Wattie in and out with spuds

Press, 4 February 1987, Page 37

Wattie in and out with spuds

PA Wellington Wattie Industries, Ltd, will build a $l2 million potato processing plant as an addition to its factory at Feilding, and will close its processing plant at Rata, near Marton. The decision to build the new plant at Feilding meant that the Rata factory would close at the end of the potato production season, said the general manager of Wattie Frozen Foods, Mr Peter Lucas. Although permanent and seasonal staff employed at Rata would be given first consideration for new jobs at the new plant, there would be some redundancies, he said. The company intended to begin talks with the unions involved at Rata to provide assistance for any permanent staff not able to be placed. The Rata factory employed 50 permanent staff and up to 70 seasonal staff at the peak of the pro-

cessing season. The new plant would be able to make more than 20,000 tonnes of French fries and potato speciality products each year, double the capacity of the existing Rata factory, he said. The company had decided it was better to build a new plant in Feilding rather than to upgrade the existing one at Rata. A contract for the design of the new plant had been let and it was planned that the new factory would be working in the 1988 production season.