Asia drives record Pukeuri beef season

More than 71,000 head of cattle were processed at Alliance Group’s Pukeuri plant in a record-breaking 2018-19 season.

The season, which ended on September 30, was the highest for the plant north of Oamaru, which employs more than 900 people at its peak.

Alliance chief executive David Surveyor said the record was the result of hard work and commitment from the Pukeuri team and farmer backing.

‘‘The increased volume of livestock is also due to a strong focus on maximising our manufacturing capabilities across our network.’’

The record season was the result of significant investment in ‘‘strengthening our beef processing capabilities’’ at Pukeuri and Mataura, Surveyor said.

‘‘Beef is a growing part of our business and initiatives such as our handpicked offer and 55-day aged beef show how serious we are.

‘‘We are benefiting from strong demand for our beef from markets such as China and wider Asia so the performance of Pukeuri is making a meaningful contribution to the co-operative and our global customers.’’

Alliance has invested significantly in the Pukeuri plant in recent years, including making safety improvements and reconfiguring the plant’s beef primary process to enable increased throughputs, Surveyor said.

The plant’s co-products processing area has also been upgraded and a new facility created to help boost the recovery of products for sale to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.

The Pukeuri result follows Alliance’s Mataura plant setting a cattle processing record last season.

‘‘We are benefiting from strong demand for our beef from markets such as China and wider Asia . . .’’

David Surveyor, Alliance CEO