Processing

$5.9m expansion completed at Hardwicks VIC beef and lamb plant

Beef Central, 25/11/2016
James, Gary and Luke Hardwick at today's expansion opening

James, Gary and Luke Hardwick at today’s expansion opening

 

VICTORIA’s Hardwicks beef and lamb processing plant at Kyneton today officially opens its $5.9 million expansion, which will add an additional 170 jobs at the plant and within allied businesses.
The completed project has delivered a new boning room, a cold storage facility and an expansion of the plant’s beef and lamb processing floors.

The project will lift the plant’s production capacity across both beef and lamb and has allowed Hardwicks to broaden its product range and improve the quality and consistency of the red meat products it produces.

Managing director Luke Hardwick said the new developments formed part of an expansion to ready the plant for Tier II accreditation, potentially yielding an extra $30 million in export sales.

hardwicks-kyneton“A lot of the business we were doing was in (beef) carcase, so now by having an offering in a carton we will grow our customer base and give extra supply to the existing customer base,” he said.

Ninety eight percent of the business was in carcase form, but now Hardwicks will be able to produce vacuum-packaged chilled and frozen product for domestic and export, Mr Hardwick said.

He expected the plant to be Tier II ready by early next year, which will also mean more market access for beef and sheep offals to premium export markets.

“Probably at the moment we are up to about 600 cattle a week through the further processing room,” he said.

Further processing of sheep and lambs is probably “next on the radar” for the company.

“We know we’ve got to keep value-adding and be more integrated with our product,” Mr Hardwick said.

He said the relatively low cost of the beef development was due to the very good company team that helped in design and construction, including his brother Mark. Much of the boning room work was done by local contractors with equipment supplied from Bendigo.

Victoria’s minister for Regional Development Jaala Pulford and Member for Macedon Mary-Anne Thomas will officially open the upgraded facility this afternoon.

Ms Pulford said the project had provided opportunities for people to access skilled food processing jobs in regional Victoria, and secured the longer-term sustainability of Hardwicks’ role as a major private sector employer for the region.

“The expansion is set to provide a significant boost to the economic output of the Kyneton region and has strong support from the Macedon Ranges Shire Council and local community,” Ms Pulford said.

She said the $30 million boost to Hardwick’s exports was “just magnificent.”

“The company is already exporting to 20 countries and it is a business that we are very proud to support with this investment and we look forward to seeing even more wionderful things from them in the future.”

“The meat sector is a significant contributor to Victoria’s economy with Victorian beef and sheep meat products exported around the globe, and valued at over $2.7 billion in 2015-16,” she said.

In the new boning room were, from left, Member for Macedon Mary-Anne Thomas, James Hardwick, Vic Ag minister Jaala Pulford and Luke Hardwick.

In the new boning room were, from left, Member for Macedon Mary-Anne Thomas, James Hardwick, Vic Ag minister Jaala Pulford and Luke Hardwick.

 

Hardwicks is an Australian, family-owned company, established in 1973 by Gary and Vicki Hardwick with an aim to provide premium quality beef and lamb products to retail and food service sector customers. In 1979 the business was relocated to Kyneton in central Victoria.

Now managed by sons, Luke and James, the company continues to grow, and is now regarded as one of the largest employers in the Macedon Ranges.

Founder Gary Hardwick said when he opened the plant in 1979 it processed 180 cattle a week.

“We’ve moved to in excess of 3000 cattle and killing 20,000-30,000 sheep and lambs a week. So I’m fairly proud of where it has ended up and I’m very lucky that my boys have now taken it over and own it.”

Hardwicks specialises in serving retail butchers beef and lamb in carcase form to ensure they are receiving the best quality in its freshest form. With an extensive distribution network, Hardwicks services customers across metropolitan and regional Victoria, South Australia, New South Wales and Queensland.

In addition to its domestic business, Hardwicks holds a Tier One export licence and has been exporting to approved countries around the world for more than a decade. Hardwicks has the ability to export into a range of countries across the world, with all beef and lamb being Halal slaughtered.

More recently, Hardwicks has opened a retail outlet beside its factory in Kyneton, which provides the public with the opportunity to sample its quality meat products in bulk and at wholesale prices.

 

 

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Comments

  1. Md. Kamruzxaman Kamal., 26/05/2020

    I want to export halal beef to Bangladesh, will you please give me the price of cnf. Chittagong basis.
    One beef cut into four part & also whole beef price.
    One 20feet container how many kg will be handled?

  2. Hakan Koyu, 29/11/2016

    Congratulations to the Hardwicks family, a major supplier for over 20 years to our business, keep up the good work
    Koyu Bros,
    Central Meat Exports

  3. Terry Nolan, 27/11/2016

    Congratulations to the Hardwick family not just on their new development and successful business, but on the enormous and sustained effort both Gary and Vicki have put back into advancing our industry through AMIC, MLA, AMPC, RMAC, PrimeSafe and the list goes on. A great family!

  4. Bill Martin, 27/11/2016

    Gary and Vicki Congratulations to both of you and your wonderful family i am proud to have had the opportunity to work with you both in the early days on the development and implementation of Rinse and Chill with your business, so again congratulations, your mate from the states Bill Martin

  5. Mark Edwards, 25/11/2016

    I’m so happy to be a major player in the new boning room with my experience in the meat industry for over 35 years I put my pride into teaching the next generation of old skilled school of tradesmen and more importantly women. Yeah I like teaching young men and women these necessary skills

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