South Australian meat processor, Thomas Foods International, will lift its beef processing capacity by a quarter with a new state of the art beef boning facility.
The $25.4 million upgrade of its Murray Bridge mixed species abattoir is expected to create 200 new jobs.
Thomas Foods received a $2.5m state government grant to go towards new boning facility, through the $15 million a year Regional Development Fund.
The upgrade will further consolidate the company’s beef processing operations in South Australia, and increase the amount of beef available to the export and domestic markets.
Sixty contractors from various suppliers and companies will also be required during the implementation phase, and will feature the latest advanced manufacturing technology, significantly improving occupational health and safety and reducing the manual workload on employees.
Thomas Foods chief operating office, David McKay said that the new boning facility would build on the company’s capacity to produce meat products of the highest industry standard for local and international markets, and ensure continued support of local producers.
“Our new facility will use include the latest technology for refrigeration, conveying, sortation, cryovac packing and hygiene,” McKay said.
“An industry-first trims sortation system will be installed to analyse, mix and batch trimmings into specific lean meat grades, allowing for industry best practice value-adding.
“We are seeing a demand for Australian grass-fed beef in the key international markets of China and the United States.
“South Australia and its high quality grass-fed cattle is in a prime position to capitalise on these emerging markets, and through this project we are confident we can make this happen to the benefit of our local producers in the process.”
