News Around The Traps
AMG expands
Quirindi, NSW: Australian Meat Group will pay about $196m to acquire Elders’ big Killara feedlot on the NSW Liverpool Plains. The 62,000-head operation includes grain-fed and pasture-based beef production on 1400ha.
AMG operates meat processing plants in Dandenong and Cootamundra. The sale is still to be approved by the Foreign Investment Review Board and Australian Competition and Consumer Commission but is expected to be completed by June 30.
AMG was founded in 2013 by its current chairman, Joe Catalfamo, and MD, Gilbert Cabral.
Wagga plant approved
Oura, NSW: A $12m private abattoir near Wagga has received planning approval after four prior rejections by the local council. The application was lodged in December 2023 and attracted more than 270 objections.
Adam Brayshaw, chief operating officer of cattle company of Okeview Pastoral expects construction to start later this year and will take 12 months to complete.
The on-property plant will have the capacity to process 60 head of cattle, 50 sheep and 20 pigs a week and will be powered by on-site solar generation.
Fifth-gen business changes hands
Gunnedah NSW: Local cattle farmers the James family have taken over Mornington Butchery after its fifth-generation owner retired in February.
Bernard Etheridge hung up his knives after 46 years, marking the end of an era in butchering for the Etheridge family, a tradition stretching across three NSW towns and dating back to the 1870s.
Bernard bought the shop, formerly a bootmakers, from his parents in 1997. The new owner is Kate James.
Currans cure meat-less
Longreach
Longreach, Qld: Mid-February saw the Curran family take over the former Savages Butchery, now named Bluegrass Meats.
Boyd and Mandy Curran and family took on the main street business – the only butchery in town – when it was offered for sale in December.
Already a businessman in the town, Mr Curran has re-opened the shop with new equipment and employed five people including butcher Josh Castles, who had worked in Port Douglas and Cairns. The other employees are Longreach locals, and include school-based apprentices Evan Pretorius and Max Bruggerman.
Lygon St icon lives on
Carlton, Vic: Lygon Street’s last Little Italy butcher - Donati’s Fine Meats - will continue to operate under a new buyer.
Founder Leo Donati, 77, announced his retirement last year with news that he planned to sell the shop he started in 1972.
Jamie Valmorbida, took possession of the shop in January and worked through the transition with Donati’s son Marcello.
The Valmorbida name has been linked with King & Godfree, a deli and continental grocer on the corner of nearby Faraday Street, since 1955.
Butcher Sam Spagnuolo, an employee of more than 20 years, will remain. Mark Glenn, executive chef of several Valmorbida venues, will oversee operations. There are plans to recruit a head butcher, and build a team of both current and past team members. And the name stays.
Cyber scare at chicken plant
Lockwood South, Vic: Central Victorian chicken processor Hazeldenes brought in cyber security investigators after the problems with the company’s computer systems in mid-February.
A reported cyber attack led to an on-site wi-fi shutdown and interruptions to the production line.
The processor was unable to package product and supplies were cut to trade and retail customers.
“We are working with partners to restore impacted operations and understand what has happened,” a company statement said. “Our priority is the welfare of our people, our animals, our customers and our partners, as we work to resume normal operations. We apologise for this disruption and any concern it may have caused. If any data has been impacted, we will notify impacted individuals as required.”