Australia’s largest family-owned meat processing company, Thomas Foods International is investing more than $30m in its operations at Murray Bridge SA, in order to boost capacity as well as reduce its environmental footprint.
The investment marks one of the largest capital expenditure programs in the 26 year history of the company and director of operations, David McKay says that decision to invest so heavily was driven by the company’s commitment to position itself as an environmentally sustainable and efficient exporter.
“Building our capacity and investing in industry best practice is a key part of our global growth strategy,” Mr McKay said. “Success on the international stage starts in our own backyard.
“We are focussed not only on increasing the processing efficiency of our facilities, but doing so in the most environmentally sustainable way possible.”
The investment will cover:
- $5.5m expansion of the lairage.
- $10m wastewater storage treatment facility inclusive of two covered lagoons which will utilise the latest technology in biogas production, producing up to 8000 cubic metres of biogas daily which offsets natural gas use in the steam-raising plant.
- $10m sustainable energy program inclusive of two 10 megawatt dual fuel boilers which are part of a fully automated biogas processing system designed to significantly reduce CO2 emissions and generate clean energy for the plant’s production.
- $10m upgrade to the company’s beef facility.
Mackay says that the upgrades to the company’s facilities will place it in good stead to meet the rising global demand for high quality meat products while simultaneously retaining its strong commitment to high animal welfare standards.
“We’re currently processing in excess of 120,000 lambs and sheep, and 5000 cattle per week across the group for our 80 export markets and we’d like to increase those numbers in the coming years,” McKay said.
“The international demand for high quality Australian meat continues to strengthen.
“Thomas Foods International is well positioned to meet this growing demand.”
McKay says that in addition to increasing production capacities, the investment will also create jobs within the local community both during the construction process and after completion.
“Each project provides benefits to the business, our people, the environment and the overall regional economy,” he said.