Page 30 - Food & Drink - June 2018

PLANT DESIGN & FITOUT
SunPork rises from the ashes
A $60 million plant upgrade has tripled SunPork’s processing speed and volumes, offering some upside after fire destroyed part of its facility.
Swickers Kingaroy Bacon Factory
QUEENSLAND’S largest pork processor SunPork Group is preparing to embark on a $60 million upgrade of its Swickers bacon factory at Kingaroy.
The news comes just over
a year after fire destroyed a significant part of the facility.
In addition to boosting its processing capacity, the greenfield expansion will enable growth in Queensland’s pig industry, according to
the company.
The new plant will be capable
of processing at three times the speed and overall volume of the current plant.
Design build and consulting business Wiley is partnering on the project, and will deliver a complete slaughter floor, freezer, chillers, amenities and offal rooms on the western side of the site.
Swickers currently processes over ninety per cent of the pigs processed in Queensland, is the only export accredited pig abattoir in Queensland, and is the largest employer in the South Burnett region.
Wiley senior project manager, Greg Lynn said, “I am looking forwardtodeliveringthis project for Swickers with local suppliers in the South Burnett region. This project has been a vision of the company for some time and I am excited to be helping them to realise it.”
Wiley managing director, Tom Wiley said, “We are proud to be designing and delivering this facility for Swickers to enable
it to respond to demand while also being a huge investment in the community. I am excited to be working with a company that shares our
community values and bringing their project to life.”
The 4700m2 project will take
approximately 12 months to complete.
Swickers has been in operation for over 50 years and is the only Export Accredited pig abattoir in Queensland.
The facility is equipped with the latest technology – preparing cooked, smoked and cured products.
26kg
THE ANNUAL
PER CAPITA CONSUMPTION
OF PORK IN AUSTRALIA
A large fire in November
2016 saw parts of Swickers completely burnt to the ground. These sections were then rebuilt and reopened in June 2017, and were reconstructed with additional facilities and specialty equipment so as to enable the company to grow
its product ranges and pork supply both locally and internationally. ✷
30 | Food&Drink business | June 2018 | www.foodanddrinkbusiness.com.au