C.F.M. defends Fairton works

Press, 17 December 1986, Page 1

C.F.M. defends Fairton works

By

LEE MATTHEWS

Suggestions by the Development Finance Corporation that Ashburton’s freezing works may have to close have been "completely rejected” by Canterbury Frozen Meat’s general manager, Mr Geoff Rowe.

The report, presented by D.F.C. at the Aorangi regional forum last week, said that in order to lower stock killing charges on a regional basis one of the three works in Aorangi “may close.” It tipped Fairton as the most vulnerable of the three. This was mostly because the Fortex Group was building a new onechain works at Seafield only a few kilometres from Fairton, which the report said would have lower operating costs than Fairton. Fairton. would have to cut staff and cut its three killing chains to one, and move away from its car-case-marketing emphasis, the report said. However, Mr Rowe said that Fairton was, and would remain, one of the most efficient plants in the South Island.

The report’s inference that Fairton would be outdated by new technology at a new plant was “totally incorrect,” he said. Fairton had the most modern pelt-processing facility in New Zealand and C.F.M. recently spent about $7 million building dual-purpose chiller and blast-freezer units.

Developments in the meat industry meant most

works, including Fairton, had systems that could keep up with the new technology available for new works. He would not comment about the future of works outside the Aorangi area. Mr Rowe questioned the basis of the D.F.C. report. “It is perhaps unfortunate that the D.F.C. relied on ’informed opinion’ rather than discussing the Fairton works’ future with C.F.M. before it reached its conclusions on the role of Fairton in the Aorangi region,” he said. One of the report's cowriters, D.F.C.’s research manager in Wellington, Mr Brian Bell, said the report’s conclusions came from national and regional trends In the meat industry. There was an over-sup-ply of killing facilities for stock in the South Island, and so rationalisation was necessary, as had been the case in the North Island, said Mr Bell. The new $lO million Seafield works would put pressure on Fairton, and the area from which Fairton drew stock for killing had “keen competition” in killing rates from other South Island works.

Mr Bell said people {night have, taken the report’s suggestions "out of context.”

The report was intended to be a discussion paper for the Aorangi regional forum, and covered fishing, horticulture, forestry, manufacturing, and other aspects of agriculture apart from meat production.