Pick up a leg of lamb in any Woolworths supermarket across the state next year and you can safely bet the cut was processed in Junee.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Junee Abattoir has landed a game-changing contract to process lamb state-wide for the supermarket giant.
The deal starts in December and is a boon for the Junee economy, 17.3 per cent of which is the agricultural industry.
Junee Abattoir general manager Heath Newton was thrilled with the deal.
“This is a very exciting time for the Junee Abattoir and we are looking forward to our partnership with Woolworths and a long and mutually rewarding partnership between the two organisations,” he said.
Mr Newton said it was too early to predict what the proposed expansion would mean in terms of local employment, contractors and businesses.
Meanwhile, mayor Neil Smith said the move was a win for the town.
“A deal like this is always good for business and puts Junee on the map,” Councillor Smith said.
“It’s good news financially and it’s great for the validity of the abattoir. It’s actually quite surprising to think the abattoir can supply such a big client, it makes you really think ‘wow, they’re really humming along’.”
A Woolworths spokesperson said the new contract would last a decade.
“Woolworths is pleased to announce it is committed to keep its NSW lamb processing in the Riverina for another 10 years,” the spokesperson said.
The local institution is set to take over the role from Cootamundra meatworks Manildra Meat.
A spokesperson for Manildra Meat said the loss would free up more time to focus on expansion of their domestic and export business.
“Manildra Meat Company’s capital investment projects continue, which allows us to expand our brand range and markets,” the spokesperson said.
Manildra Meat declined to speculate about how many staff would be lost in the fallout, other than to say staffing levels would be maintained “in line with seasonal demands and industry challenges”.
Fairfax Media understands a number of redundancies have already been served up.
The split between Manildra and Woolworths follows a contraction of the plant’s beef line earlier this year due to record cattle prices on farm and in the saleyards.
The downsizing came on the back of cattle prices reaching upwards of $7/kg carcass weight (CW) at the time.
