Dawn Meat joins tannery project

Press, 12 January 1981, Page 18

Dawn Meat joins tannery project

Dawn Meat , (N.Z.), Ltd; the Hawkes Bay meat processor will operate a felL mongery at the former nylon mill at Shannon, the managing director (Mr G. E.S. Love) said. The fellmongery will be run in conjunction with a multi-million dollar woolskin tanning venture. Dawn Meat owns a majority interest in the T. H. Walker and Sons, Ltd, beef plant at Hawera and a half share in the Pacific Freezing (N.Z.), Ltd, beef slaughterhouse in Hastings. Pacific Freezing is also constructing a new export sheep and lamb slaughter house; at Oringi near Danrievirke, and this will provide - the ’- ; basis for Dawn Meat's entry into the sheep and lamb trade.

The skins from Oringi will be transported to Shannon where suitable skins will be processed by the new tannery. < ' The balance of the skins will be processed in the new

Levin fellmongery .which will also be. located within the vacant nylon mill.. The tannery will be a joint,'venturei with Woolskin Marketing (N.Z.), Ltd, ; a Palmerston ‘ North-based company whose principal shareholders, •Mr B. ■ Gibbs and Mf R. B. Rankin, have spent a substantial period investigating the economics of the project. Mr Rankin and Dawn Meat’s general manager, Mr M. J. Foster, leave next week on a world trip to visit potential overseas customers. Mr Foster said that the Oringi works, was due to start in November, with the first two chains commissioned their year and next year, and a third chain in 1982-83. He said that it would eventually have a killing capacity of one million sheep a year. The Shannon tannery would draw skins from other works until they became available from Oringi, he said.