Nelson Frozen Food Factory To Close

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30398, 24 March 1964, Page 1

Nelson Frozen Food Factory To Close

(New Zealand Press Association/ NELSON, March 23. The Snowcraft Frozen Food Corporation, Ltd., processing factory at Stoke will cease production in six weeks. The building is leased but tlie plant will be disposed of.

Directors of the company, which has been marketing frozen food packs for the New Zealand and overseas markets for 10 years, reached the decision on Thursday. The staff was given notice of the company's intention on Friday.

This season the firm has processed betwen 750 and 800 tons of peas and will handle about 350 tons of beans as well as corn, cauliflower and other frozen lines.

The manager of the company (Mr M. E. Jewell) said this morning that the reason for the decision was that it I was not a happy industry. The move had been taken “because of unrest and continuing upsets in marketing.” He did not consider that

another firm in the business would be interested in taking over the establishment. They were all well established in other centres and processing as much as they could sell. During the height of the season the firm employs about 100 workers and buys in from local growers, largely on contract, some 750 acres of peas and about 100 acres of beans. Later this week the company will load 130 tons of peas and beans on the Carnatic for export to the United Kingdom and there will be a further shipment to this market in a month or so.

The closing of the Snowcraft factory will leave only two vegetable processing concerns in operation in the province.