More offal to be processed at Pukeuri and Lorneville

An aerial view of Alliance Group's Pukeuri plant. Photo / Alliance Group.

Alliance Group is spending $1.7million at its Pukeuri and Lorneville plants in a bid to capture more value from its products.

The investment would improve the recovery of offal at Pukeuri,  with an upgrade of the beef pet food area and a new facility created to help boost the recovery of blood-based products for sale to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device industries.

The blood products were used in the development of vaccines, cancer treatments and drugs to treat neurodegenerative, haematological and endocrine disorders.

The range of beef offal captured at Pukeuri was limited due to the size of the space at the plant. The upgrade would boost the capacity of the bovine offal and blood capture facilities "significantly", chief executive David Surveyor said.

There had been a substantial lift in demand from the pharmaceutical industry for New Zealand-sourced blood products.

The company has installed a laboratory-standard blood processing facility at the Lorneville plant, near Invercargill.