New venison plant 'notable milestone' says Silver Fern Farms

Plant manager Rob Lindsay, Waitaki MP Jacqui Dean and Silver Fern Farms chairman Rob Hewett at the opening of the $7 million venison plant at the Pareora plant. Photo/John Cosgrove

Silver Fern Farms has officially opened its $7million new venison plant and cold storage upgrade at its Pareora site south of Timaru.

Last year, the company decided to move its Islington venison operations to Pareora, which was more central to its livestock supply, and closed its leased cold store in Belfast.

At the opening, chief executive Dean Hamilton said the new venison facility was a "notable milestone", as the company's first multispecies processing site. The plant was built in 1903 by the Canterbury Frozen Meat company.

The value of meat and other animal products produced in 2014-15 at the plant, of which 94% was exported, was more than $200million. The plant employed about 840 people in peak season, earning $40million in salaries and wages, while more than 2300 farmers supplied it with livestock each year.

A further $27 million was paid to South Canterbury contractors and suppliers of goods and services to the plant through the season, Mr Hamilton said.

The venison development was the most significant investment at the plant since beef processing was added in the 1960s, he said.

An important part of multispecies processing was improved employment prospects and longer seasons for staff, he said.

He thanked plant manager Rob Lindsay, regional plant manager Phil Shuker, engineering, environmental and technical teams, the plant's employees, and Deer Industry New Zealand for its technical support for making it happen.

Expanding the cold storage facilities at Pareora would allow for better regional consolidation and less use of external cold storage facilities, he said.