AUSRALIA-SUPERMAKET CHAIN SPEND AU$35 MILLION ON MEAT COMPLEX.
THE WA beef industry has been buoyed by news that Woolworths will spend up to $35 million to upgrade and expand its Bunbury meat processing centre.
The centre will get an extra 2000m2 of warehousing and 2000m2 more of processing floor space.
The work is scheduled to be completed within 18 months.
Woolworths WA regional manager Brad Bolin said the centre, which is run within the V&V Walsh processing plant, had been operating at near its total capacity.
"If we are going to grow our meat business and continue to support WA producers then we have to spend the capital, which will be upward of $30 million to a maximum of $35m," Mr Bolin said.
"It gives us a greater tick of support for local producers in WA and allows them to increase their capacity as we do."
Mr Bolin said he could not say with any certainty if the expansion would lead to higher prices for suppliers.
"With any increase in volume or capacity we would have to say that hopefully everyone benefits and from an operation point of view the freshness of product from the store will improve," he said.
The Bunbury centre, where beef and lamb are processed, is one of only two owned and operated directly by Woolworths in Australia.
Mr Bolin said the expanded centre would help safeguard jobs and put more WA meat on Woolies’ shelves.
Mr Bolin said the centre and Woolworth’s other operation in Queensland gave the company total control of the killing process.
Mr Bolin said Woolworths was the first national retailer to adopt the Buy West, Eat Best campaign and the Bunbury centre’s expansion was another sign of its support for the WA beef industry.
"It is a positive, as we are investing in the WA meat industry," he said.
Woolworths in WA mainly sources its beef through producer supply contracts.
Red Meat Action Group spokesman Mike Introvigne said the Woolworths announcement was good news for the industry and he hoped it would reflect back to producers in higher beef prices.