ENGLEWOOD BACON CO

Stratford Evening Post, Volume LVIII, Issue 21, 21 June 1926, Page 2

ENGLEWOOD BACON CO

IMPORTANT DECISION. LEASE OF SMART ROAD, te > Over 150 shareholders of the Ini' - glewood Co-operative Bacon Company d decided, on Saturday, to recommend ° the directors to accept a lease for L ~ ten years of the slaughterhouse block .and the freezing chambers at the old 0 Smart Road Freezing Works. The company intends to utilise the 1 new " accommodation for killing and for •" storage to meet a rapidly expanding ■ j business and the possibilities of a. ! greatly increased export trade. The e j actual curing will be done at Inglev I wood, as at present. The owner of the property is the New Zealand 3 Farmers’ Fertiliser Company, and the * ! terms on offer were described as “a * j gilt-edged proposition.” > i The rental was not disclosed for t publication. ’ . The meeting was representative of ‘ all parts of North Taranaki, and was T presided over by Mr Arthur Morton, " chairman of directors. After he had 1 explained the project a favourable re- ■ solution was carried with only Iwo ’ dissentient voices. * j Twenty-seven years ago the comj pany had started purely as a bacon j factory, said Mr Morton, hut in the | course of time even the methods of | curing changed, and it was found necessary to make alterations. Notwithstanding jtlie fact that they had erected storage accommodation and additions and put in new machinery, it was now impossible to carry on with the present facilities. EXPORT TRADE. The Dominion was rapidly develop- ■ ing into a frozen pork export conn- , try.’ The company had found it ad- j ! visable to export a certain percent- , j age of,frozen pigs to England each - year, and he felt sure that this branch of the business was going to grow. , They had stored pigs at Smart Road, j but that had not been when they j were exporting. These pigs were i simply a surplus, and were brought i back to the factory as required. Since tho meat works closed storage at s the Moturoa works had been utilised. 1 Extra storage was now needed at the 3 port under the Dairy Control Board J' scheme, and the company had been ; advised to look elsewhere for its re- y quirements this season. The expansiou of the pig business made this 0 course imperative also. No less than a 4650 pigs had been stored at Moturoa c in a season. These had to be paid a for, and many of them carted back w to Inglewood again. , n

■ INCREASING BUSINESS. Last yeai- the factory had dealt going to handle 12,000, and he felt sure that next year they would receive 15,000 from shareholders alone. He felt certain that industry would increase. Denmark was to-day ex-, porting more pigs than dairy produce; and though-we might not she able to etjual that at present, we could 1 do much,-,better. There was a big market in England. For a surplus of bacon pigs sent to London, the factory had received per lb, which i meant considerably over 7d a lb here, j Then they could not handle the I farmers’ baconers and expect him tc , take his porkers elsewhere, so they must have extra accommodation. This year the company had far too many porkers. About two weeks ago the directors received an indication that the Loudon market was improving, and that they could get 9Jd a lb. A few days later there was an offer of lOd alb for 1000 porkers. This was not accepted, but a subsequent deal was made at lOid a lb for 1000 porkers, | “I believe that not only will w r e sell a considerable amount at 10|d, but that we will get lid,” continued Mr Morton, “That is an indication of the trade we are building up.” He did not know what they would have done had it hot been for the Moturoa works, and now they were faced with the problem of looking for more storage.

It ,had been suggested iu the last annual report that they should extend and alter the present buildings and build three or four new freezing chambers for the pigs expected this year. But the buildings were of wood and old, and what would hap-

pen about storage for the future? ’They would not ue justified in spending a large sum on buildings that had been eivcted At years ago. Then ihey were not near a railway station, amt a considerable amount was paid m merit me m driving the pigs a>ti night. Regarding the. export trade ol the fiuure. they must be in as good a position as any of their competitors. They must be near tho railway. The company must control ample Ircezuig and cold storage space, m direct communication by rail with the wharves, and it it was necessary to go to New I'lymouth in the past it was doubly necessary to go tiiero now properly’ to handle the. frozen, pork export trade. Then there was the risk of polluting the Waiongona stream and the possibility of having to face lieavy expenditure iu this connection. SMART ROAD BUILDING.

The directors had carefully considered all these matters, and had come to the conclusion that it would best serve their interests if they transferred part of their business—he did not say the whole of it—to Smart Road. The company had been offered the lease of the western side of tfiei fertiliser works, comprising the slaughter block, with a capacity for killing 2000 sheep and 150 head of cattle per day. On the other side were the freezing chambers, capable of holding from 120,000 to 150,000 freight carcases. Part of these had been dismantled, but the rest w-er© there for the bacon company. In addition there was a very large cjiilk iug room. There wore boilers and other equipment run by electricity from ‘New Plymouth, and there was an ample water supply and pumps. “At a very small cost we can make the alterations necessary to enable us to start killing there in a few days after arrival,” said Mr Morton. “We, have no idea of closing the factory at. Inglewood. We would simply do our killing and freezing at Smart Road,

and the pigs for export could stay there until, a boat was ready for them.” Carcases for curing would be brought to Inglewood, he explained. Their bacon business required about 150 pigs a week. Therefore, during the flush of the season, when they were receiving 500—and ho believed it would be 000 this year—they would have a surplus. But at Smart Road they would have sufficient storage for any number.

They would probably require to spend about £SOOO on the present) buildings in making alterations. And what would that give them? They would'still be. away from the railway line, and they would still have t.heir drainage trouble, whereas at Smart Road the drainage would be into the Waiwakaiho, where there was ho* risk of pollution. Interest on the £SOOO and depreciation on the plant would cost them £SOO a year. And with all the improvements effected they would only have provided for the same number of pigs as they had been handling. % 'jjjjj

At Smart Road they would have to provide only a scalding trough and benches, hooks and a singer. Everything else was there. On the floor below they could deal with offal. The company had paid out £2lO in a year' for the removal of offal. They would save this and in addition get the returns from the manure.

Mr Morton then read the proposed terms of the lease as contained in U, jetl'er from the 'lfertiliser Company.' These were: . The use of the railway locomotive, 'slaughterhouse, cooler floor, chiller, gut room, 3| freezing chambers, refrigerating plant and digester. Tjic rental provides for tire maintenance of the freezing chamber,s by the Fertiliser Company and insurance on the buildings and the plant leased, . “It is a , gilt-edged proposition,” commented My Morton after quoting the rental asked. Probably they would still kill at Inglewood pigs received from May to October. If they went to Smart Road they would expand the business from 12,000 to 25.000 pigs a year. Ho knew of five l stations between Te Iloti and Opunako which would give them 200 pigs a week, and there were many farmers anxious to join up with a co-opera-tive. concern. A resolution favourable to the proposition moved by Mr A. HI. Jordan, seconded by Mr C. P. Mnndt and carried.—Abridged from “News.”