The planned investment follows a six-month review of the company’s cheese manufacturing sites across Australia, and will create a modern, market leading, high volume specialty cheese manufacturing facility in Burnie, with significant opportunities for growth and innovation.
National Foods MD Andrew Reeves said its cheese business had evolved through brand and site acquisitions over the past 10 years, with little or no manufacturing optimisation.
“The review was driven by the need for National Foods to support its market leading brands and develop a long-term, sustainable business model based on modern and market leading manufacturing practices,” he said.
The six-month review considered the duplication in the network (assets and process), the safety and well-being of people, limitations in productivity and growth, innovation, technology and the long-term viability and sustainability of the sites. Capital requirements to meet environmental standards and plant replacement were also key factors considered.
The review concluded that it wasn’t sustainable for National Foods to operate multiple manufacturing sites, and that investment in world-class manufacturing should be focused. As a result, all specialty cheese manufacture, other than King Island brands, will be consolidated into a single site, preferably to be located in Burnie, Tasmania.
As part of its planned $120m investment in the Burnie site, National Foods intends the site to have a 25,000 tonne cheesemaking capacity per annum, which requires an additional 10,000m2 building expansion. Reeves said the proposed Burnie investment was a major commitment from the company to the Tasmanian dairy industry.
“Tasmania’s reputation for clean, green and exceptional environmental standards is a good fit for the future direction of the National Foods strategy to create high quality, sustainable market leading brands,” he said. “We’re looking forward to working with the Tasmanian government on ways to enhance Tasmania’s position as the premium state for speciality cheese manufacture and innovation.
“National Foods’ restructure of its cheese business is the key to unlocking further profit and growth potential from the specialty cheese category, and our preferred investment in the Burnie site will bring a high level of automation to the plant and realise that potential.
“We didn’t take these decisions lightly. Our people at these sites have done a great job producing high quality product for many years. It’s critical for our long-term viability that we continually review our operation and make sure we’re running as efficiently as possible, minimise duplication and optimise use of our resources.
“As a result of this review, National Foods will be able to deliver an improved and efficient manufacturing platform to support future growth and innovation. It will also enable us to optimise current and new technology.”
Source: National Foods
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