Innisfail's SunGold Specialty Meats Ltd. has firmly positioned itself to take a bigger chunk of the global lamb processing market.
The local 65-employee federally inspected facility, which became a subsidiary of Canada Gold Beef in 2011, will be ready next month to boost its fortunes after investing $3 million to transform its old beef processing floor into a state-of-the-art facility for lamb production.
“This installation sets us up for achieving our vision of substantial growth over the next 20 years and beyond,” said Dwayne Beaton, SunGold's chief executive officer. “With the anticipated growth and diversification enabled by this new installation, in the future it will mean more jobs.”
He added the new installation will also create a better working environment for existing workers and will help attract and retain new employees.
“We have automated some of the tasks that previously had physical demands involved. We have tried to make it a lighter and brighter atmosphere, and a little bit more spacious,” said Beaton, adding the new technology for lamb processing will also enhance the company's already high standards for food safety.
Sungold, which became a producer of lamb products exclusively in 2011, currently processes about 1,600 animals a week, and with the new installation it has set a short-term goal of raising that figure to 2,000. Annually, the company processed 75,000 animals in 2013 and has set its sights on achieving 100,000 in 2015.
Combined with the parent company's recent $5-million investment into a 50,000-head feedlot at Picture Butte, Alta., SunGold is also looking at the ability to cut its production costs through the new installation, which will ultimately enable the local producer to offer its product cheaper and grab some of the market now held by lamb producers in New Zealand and Australia. Currently, production costs at SunGold are running at about $8.2 per head, compared to under $3 a head in Australia.
“There is a lot of foreign lamb product coming into Canada that we can displace,” said Beaton, adding there is much to learn from producers in both New Zealand and Australia. “We are not looking to reinventing the wheel. We are looking at what others have done, whether that is Australia or New Zealand.
“We have hired and accessed consultants from Australia to work with us, both for our feedlot and processing installation we are just completing,” he said. “We very much want to learn from others, and not to reinvent the wheel but take what others have learned, what others suggest and then modify it if necessary for our own particular situation here in Canada.”
Meanwhile on the homefront, Beaton said the company's growth ambitions have come with the “excellent” support and cooperation from the Town of Innisfail and the community at large. He noted the $3-million investment has meant that several local businesses have played key roles and benefited from the new installation project, including those providing electrical, mechanical, sheet metal and site preparation expertise, as well as local suppliers.
“They have been critical to this process in terms of them providing timely quality services to help get this project completed,” said Beaton.
