Western Australia’s newest abattoir is on the market as demand from small producers to service their paddock-to-plate operations intensifies.
Western Australia’s newest abattoir is on the market as demand from small producers to service their paddock-to-plate operations intensifies.
Southern Brook Abattoir in Serpentine was opened in 2018 by the Blandford family to cater for their on-farm wholesale butcher shop and has been operating on-and-off again ever since.
The property the small abattoir is located on has been listed for $3.5 million and includes 124 acres of land, a 4x2 house, granny flat and farm infrastructure.
The ad, posted to a local social media group, markets the abattoir as offering strong income either leased out or owner operated.
The Blandfords have been trying to sell the property since October 2022.
Boyup Brook farmer Lachlan Chilwell and Great Southern farmer Steve Bain leased the abattoir last year to process venison, lamb and beef.
In June their company, Southern Brook Meats, announced it had restructured to “make best use” of the facility to increase access to wholesale markets.
Southern Brook Meats is not part of the sale.
The sale comes as the future of Western Australia’s small paddock-to-plate producers hangs in the balance due to the financial and capacity constraints of large abattoir owners to process custom kills.
Dardanup Butchering Company in early October delayed its decision to end service kills until February so small producers can meet demand for the holiday season.
That decision is expected to cost the business, and half-owner Westpork, significantly as the operation will have to scale down its own product lines.
At the time of the announcement Westpork said it would consider building a new plant at the location of DBC to accommodate custom kills.
Compounding the processing industry’s dramas is lingering uncertainty over the future of several closed abattoirs.
Business News has been trying for months to contact Minerva Foods to no avail.
At the time of closing the Shark Lake Abattoir in late 2023, the Brazilian company said it would conduct a review into the facility’s future.
Minerva’s listed media and general contacts in Australia and Brazil are unresponsive, and its Australian phone numbers are disconnected.
Western Meat Packers Group has not responded to several requests for comment on the state of the Goodchilds Abattoir, which the company two years ago said would be reopened in two years.
Business News has also attempted to contact the owners of the old Clover Meats site in Waroona, Indpac Trading Australia, to no avail.
Geraldton’s D&K Hagan Bros abattoir sold in June for $600,000, and a Canadian investment firm is in the process of buying the Kimberley Meat Company near Derby out of administration.
Business News understands six other facilities around the state are closed.
That means 11 of 34 non-government processors in WA are either closed or for sale.
Some 20 non-government and five government facilities are currently licensed, according to the Western Australian Meat Industry Authority.
