Silver Fern Farms CEO sees better days ahead
Despite Silver Fern Farms (SFF) posting a $21 million loss last season, chief executive Dan Boulton believes that better days are coming.
The company says there will be no job losses when the Waitoa and Paeroa plants, 30km apart, fold into one operation. SFF says it is spending at least $1 million at Waitoa to allow it to process the combined volume at one site.
The company says it is consulting with Paeroa staff who will be transferred to Waitoa on their existing employment terms.
Chief executive Dean Hamilton says the investment in the Waitoa site is due to its superior facilities, which include a larger coolstore that also services the company’s Te Aroha beef plant.
“Our Waitoa plant has greater scope for further redevelopment should additional processing capacity be required in the region.
“Our Paeroa site is now at the point where it requires significant investment to replace its entire refrigeration system and its boiler. That investment doesn’t make sense when only 25 minutes away we have our Waitoa site which can lift its processing capacity to cover the volume processed by both sites.
“It also has the advantage that we can process stock in a more efficient manner by not duplicating resources at two sites.
“We can also better focus our investment in new plant technology at the one site.
“As the Waikato’s largest calf processor, we’re excited by the opportunity to create an efficient, high quality processing facility at Waitoa, which can better service our loyal dairy suppliers in the region.”
Most of the 300 seasonal staff at Paeroa also work at Silver Fern Farms’ beef site at Te Aroha for the main processing season and this proposal does not affect their employment at Te Aroha.
