Leading South American meat and livestock company, Minerva Foods, recently announced its venture in Australia is moving ahead with, the acquisition of two meatpacking units: Sharke Lake and Great Eastern Abattoir, in Western Australia. Brazilian-based Minerva is well-known in beef markets. Exports, production, sales and processing form the business segments. This new venture will focus on sheep, with the WA sites being specialist sheep processing facilities.
The joint venture with SALIC (Saudi Agriculture and Livestock Investment Company), will see a total investment of approximately US$35 million, with the plants expected to be operational shortly after approvals from the relevant regulatory agencies are received. Minerva forecast that, when operating at full capacity, the plants will have a processing capacity of 1 million head per annum.
Australia has long been recognised for its high-quality food products, and is currently the world’s leading exporter of sheep meat processed products. Venture partner, SALIC, already operates sheep breeding and finishing facilities in Australia, providing secure operational efficiency to support the newly acquired processing plants. Based in Merredin, WA, SALIC operates a large grain and livestock export enterprise, and has connections along the entire supply chain.
Minerva is no newcomer to the market, having established trading operations based in the region and expertise in the sale of sheep. The commercial structure will utilise this trading knowledge and have a strong focus on consumer markets in Asia and the Middle East.
In positive news for the local markets, it is anticipated that the new venture will support regional communities by creating over 150 jobs. The facilities will also provide local sheep producers with another, much-needed outlet for processing animals.
Sources: https://www.salicaustralia.com.au/, https://www.reuters.com/companies/BEEF3.SA, https://www.google.com/search?q=MINERVA+S.A.&rlz=1C1GCEA_enAU832AU832&oq=MINERVA+S.A.&aqs=chrome..69i57j0i512l3j0i22i30l3j0i10i22i30j0i22i30l2.325j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
