PUBLISHED June 6, 2019
Thomas Foods International unveils plans for new world class processing facility at Murray Bridge.
Thomas Foods International has today unveiled plans for a new state-of-the-art meat processing facility at Murray Bridge. The family-owned company’s Chief Executive Officer Darren Thomas has confirmed the new facility will be built on a greenfield site, 10km outside of the town centre. With an estimated value of several hundred million dollars, it replaces the plant destroyed by fire on January 3 last year.
“Today we re-affirm the commitment we made on Day One,” Mr Thomas said.
“We plan to build the best, most advanced multi species processing facility in Australia, if not the world. And we will build it at Murray Bridge in South Australia.
“We want our facility to be world class in adapting the latest advancements in technology, efficiency, environmental sustainability, animal welfare and workplace safety.
“This is the single largest investment by our company in its 30-year history and on a scale not seen in our industry for many years. It’s also our long-term commitment to our community, staff, customers and livestock suppliers throughout South Australia and Australia.”
Once fully operational, the new plant is expected to create around 2000 jobs, an estimated 400 of which will be required in the initial stages of production.
Thomas Foods International has established a dedicated project team led by Darren Thomas and Chief Operating Officer David McKay and including internal and external designers, engineers and planners to drive the development.
“Today is a very exciting milestone for Thomas Foods International and our local community of Murray Bridge,” Mr McKay said.
“We’ve secured the land for our site and have worked closely with a team of internationally renowned process engineers to come up with a world-class environmentally sustainable design.
“From the fire has come a ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ opportunity to build a brand new flagship facility that will service our global operations for many decades to come. This will be a technically advanced facility to deliver the highest standards in beef and lamb processing.”
The plant and its capacity will be built in a staged approach with the beef processing facilities to be completed first. The final stages of the development will provide for a considerable expansion and greater footprint to that of the previous site in Murray Bridge.
The site for the new plant is located 8km from the existing plant site along the Mannum Rd and is close to the company’s existing wastewater treatment ponds.