THE King Country Pet Food factory at 12 Racecourse Road, Manunui. PHOTO SUPPLIED
A STATE of the art pet food facility aiming to produce a premium product for an international clientele has been operating out of Taumarunui for nearly a year.
King Country Pet Food New Zealand’s site was visited recently by members of the Taumarunui Sustainable Land Management Group.
Site manager Marcus James and commercial manager Gareth Stillman showed the SLMG group around the site. Group facilitator Geoff Burton said it was most interesting to see the operation that produced high-end dry product for Chinese consumers.
“Forty-two people are currently employed and once the factory is in full production, hopefully by the end of 2023, 60 will be employed,” Geoff said.
“The Chinese owners are very keen that their operation enhances the wellbeing of the Taumarunui community. Staff are difficult to source and retain. Immigrants are likely to be required to fully staff the factory. This is internationally,” he said.
“The current, growing market is China-based but options are open for the future. The expectation is that strong demand will continue for this product. The meat component is brought in mainly from a third party sourcing it from existing meat processing facilities. There is no intention that KCPF will ever slaughter their own livestock.
“The other component – legumes, pulses and so forth (not grains), are brought in from around New Zealand. Trace elements, probiotics and so forth are also added in the high tech, computer-controlled mixing process.
“They would like to source plant components locally, but it was pointed out that the southern King Country is not well suited to cropping due to the lack of arable land and climate.
“It is, however, well suited to long-term protein production and maybe contracts with local growers to have stock processed elsewhere, producing specifically for the pet food market, may be a future option.
“Options are being considered for a generator to maintain essential operations in the event of a power cut. The factory will be very beneficial to our community, especially if local labour becomes more available than at present,” Geoff said.
New Zealand’s Pet Food Processing said in a newsletter published last year that the facility would specialise in co-manufacturing premium kibble and would have a capacity of more than 40,000 tonnes across 4.7 hectares.
The facility would produce premium pet food, including diets that incorporate freeze-dried or air-dried ingredients. The facility would include a Wenger Thermal Twin-Screw extruder constructed to handle high levels of fresh meats, and high-speed automated packaging equipment capable of handling various packaging sizes.
Dedicated to premium pet health and wellness, the company’s facility would provide easy access to grass-fed, free-range meats, sustainably sourced seafood, and superfoods like fresh, green-lipped mussels and manuka honey.
The industry newsletter quoted King Country Pet Food in saying its Taumarunui facility would eventually become one of the largest pet food processing facilities in New Zealand.
NOTE: Commercial manager Gareth Stillman objected to the King Country News publishing excerpts from the Taumarunui Sustainable Land Management Group newsletter. Without giving any examples, Geoff said parts of the account were inaccurate, “so we don’t give you authority to print incorrect information about King Country Pet Food”.
However, since most of what the TSLM newsletter said is already in the public domain, we decided to publish anyway.
