Milton District Meats has been sold and the new owner has big plans in store for the abattoir on Slaughterhouse Road.
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The new owner plans to expand the plant's operation and has applied for an export licence which will allow MDM to ship meat to fast-growing markets in Asia.
As well as beef and lamb, the abattoir is set to increase its processing of alpaca meat.
Craig Smith decided the time was right to sell the business that his parents Bill and Wendy Smith purchased from the Latta family in 1981.
Craig has helped manage the abattoir alongside his father for the past 20 years but decided to sell the business following the death of both his parents earlier this year.
He said MDM specialised in providing whole carcass product and carton meat to butchers and wholesalers in Sydney, the Illawarra, Shoalhaven and south to Eden.
Over the past 30 years the Smiths have carried out significant upgrades at the plant, including establishing a butcher-boning room to service supermarket and catering customers.
The slaughter floor was replaced at a cost of over $1 million and the National Livestock Identification System (NLIS) government program was introduced, with all equipment upgraded and maintained to NSW Food Authority standards.
The plant employs 28 full-time trained and qualified staff.
Craig said when his parents purchased the business, it was one eight abattoirs on the South Coast.
“It is a testimony to my father’s perseverance that Milton abattoir is one of only two that remain,” he said.
Craig said he had mixed feelings about the sale, but said the business was in a “healthy situation” and the time was right to sell.
“It was a good time for me to get out, given what they want to do with the place,” he added.
“The export licence will provide the business with long term security and the alpaca meat is a niche market that is being tapped into.”
Under the new owners, the operation will be overseen by CEO Leisa Perfect of Milton, who said the proposed expansion was “an exciting time for the town”.
“We are looking forward to a big future for the plant which is one of the biggest employers in town,” she said.
Day-to-day operations will be taken on by general manager Frank Schnoor of Narrawallee who has been with the company since 1991.
He said, while the core of the businesses would not change, there were exciting opportunities for expansion which would generate employment for local people and big money into the local economy.
“Wherever possible we always use local tradespeople and that won’t change,” he said.
The new owner was unavailable for comment.