Timaru’s Smithfield meat processing plant sold for undisclosed amount

Six hundred workers lost their jobs when the 139-year-old site closed last year. Photo / RNZ

By RNZ

The former Smithfield meat processing plant site in Timaru has been sold, but the Alliance Group says the price paid for the land remains a secret.

Six hundred meatworkers lost their jobs last year when the farmer-owned red meat co-operative announced it would close the 139-year-old site, which it had owned since 1989.

Alliance chief executive Willie Wiese said there was significant interest in the 32-hectare site.

“Smithfield has been a well-known part of the Timaru landscape for nearly 140 years,” Wiese said.

“While this marks the end of an era, we’re pleased to have concluded the sale and to enable new investment in the site.”

He confirmed it had now sold, though the price and the purchaser are confidential.

Alliance Group reported a loss of $95.8 million after tax for the year ended September in its 2024 annual report, which included the one-off charge of $51.3m to cover the redundancies and closure of the Smithfield site.

Declining sheep processing numbers as a result of land-use change were credited as one of the primary reasons for the site’s closure.

This had resulted in surplus capacity in its plant network.

Alliance Group has six processing plants across the country, including four in the South Island.

– RNZ