Page 3 - National Poultry Newspaper

Protect your reputation – and your business from Escherichia coli and Salmonella with the Poulvac modified live bacterial vaccines: Poulvac E coli and Poulvac ST. These vaccines from Zoetis offer a vaccination program
for your flock that helps fight the threat of two major bacterial diseases. Your business depends on safety and quality. It’s your brand. It’s your reputation. The Poulvac portfolio from Zoetis helps protect both.
To learn more about the Poulvac range
visit us at Zoetis.com.au or call 1800 814 883
ST and E coli
Zoetis Australia Pty Ltd. ABN 94 156 476 425. Level 6, 5 Rider Boulevard, Rhodes NSW 2138. © 2018 Zoetis Inc. All rights reserved. www.zoetis.com.au ZL0868
The new processing plant extension.
Golden Cockerel invests $40 million in world-class processing plant upgrade
A NEW $40 million, 5000sq m ‘front end’ of Golden Cockerel’s Mount Cotton, Queens- land processing plant recently came on-line, incorporating new live- bird transport and hand- ling systems, controlled atmosphere stunning and up-scaled immersion chilling – all contribut- ing to greater throughput capacity and efficiency.
With live birds arriv- ing daily from as far as two hours away by road,
the upgrade ensures more birds can be processed in a shorter time frame, meaning less overtime and a more efficient op- eration that sees process- ing wrap up at 7pm daily, before commencing again at 2am the next day.
The upgrade features the latest Stork Atlas poultry processing equipment, in- cluding multi-phase con- trolled atmosphere stun- ning, widely regarded by industry and the RSPCA to be very humane and de-
liver the highest available welfare standard.
Live-bird handling and transport processes have also been streamlined thanks to the new Stork system, meaning the birds are kept cleaner and more comfortable than was pre- viously possible.
Despite a 40 percent increase in production efficiency, equalling the most efficient production systems in the world, the team at Golden Cockerel, headed by CEO and in- dustry veteran Alan Wil- son, is not resting on its laurels, instead striving to further upgrade the Mount Cotton facility over the next five years.
In terms of other effi- ciency-focused measures, Mr Wilson said a new and improved self-contained wastewater treatment and irrigation system means no stress on sewers and a recently upgraded power supply network ensures the plant does not unnec- essarily deplete the grid.
“The past 12 to 18 months of upgrades have effectively future-proofed the plant and reaffirmed a commitment to the cur- rent site for at least the next 20 years,” he said.
The current process- ing number of around 650,000 birds per week is forecast to rise as the plant becomes increasingly ef- ficient, spurred by con- sistently strong consumer demand, with three of the 10 biggest-selling lines in supermarkets being chick- en products.
Directly employing about 400 people, the business has long been one of the biggest in the Redlands area since form-
ing in the early 1970s. And the new process- ing plant upgrade, while not necessarily creating any new jobs initially, has confirmed employment going forward by reduc- ing costs and enabling the business to grow and create more jobs in the
future.
Forward planning has
seen the creation of more useable space on the cur- rent hilltop site, allowing for expansion and new building projects in the long term.
While already exporting a relatively small amount of product to numerous Pacific Island countries and other locations in- cluding Hong Kong, the company is remaining abreast of the export cli- mate and is looking into the possibility of expand- ing its export portfolio in coming years.
One advantage of the Brisbane-centric loca- tion is Brisbane Airport has no curfews, meaning product can leave via air freight 24/7, and through- out the Pacific region the Golden Cockerel brand is well recognised, further supporting the prospect of more exported product.
Being a fully integrated business, Golden Cock- erel encompasses the full range of poultry opera- tions – from feed mills, to parent birds that produce fertile eggs on multiplica- tion (or breeder) farms, to hatcheries, to broiler farms (mostly contract growers) from where the chickens make their way to the Mount Cotton facil- ity at 35 to 50 days of age.
The Redlands region in which Golden Cockerel’s headquarters are based was one of the original poultry growing areas in Australia, and many broiler farms still thrive throughout the region, making the factory ide- ally placed to receive their product.
With a focus on a strong future through production efficiency, constant im- provement and supplying a high-quality product to major retailers, takeaway food chains, specialty poultry shops and butch- ers, Golden Cockerel looks set to continue as an industry powerhouse in years to come.
Golden Cockerel CEO Alan Wilson and QA staff mem- ber LindsayTomlinson.
The plant upgrade includes new utilities.
www.poultrynews.com.au
National Poultry Newspaper, June 2018 – Page 3
Another view of the plant extension.