Sanford and Sealord Secure Jobs at Tauranga Mussel Plant

Sanford and Sealord Secure Jobs at Tauranga Mussel Plant

Sanford Limited and Sealord Group Limited has reached agreement for the purchase of the North Island Mussel Processors Limited (NIMPL) business in Tauranga from its receivers, McGrathNicol, resulting in the 20 full time and 200 casual workers keeping their jobs.

Sealord and Sanford will now work with the receivers and existing NIMPL staff to ensure the processing facility is up and running prior to the start of this season’s harvest.

Sealord CEO, Graham Stuart said, purchasing the Tauranga based processing facility was important in continuing the development of the Coromandel mussel industry. “We are pleased the NIMPL team will continue to be able to work with us to deliver quality products to our customers,” said Stuart.

Sanford’s Managing Director, Eric Barratt said the new partnership will include the mussel farming businesses of the two companies as well as NIMPL’s processing operation. “New Zealand has an excellent international reputation for our Greenshell mussels and this deal allows us to further build on export opportunities through a seamless supply chain from sea to plate.”

The processing plant in Tauranga was the first in the world to operate an automated musselopening machine as part of a $23 million investment to expand the facility in 2009. Sanford and Sealord have each taken a 50% shareholding in a new company North Island Mussels Limited, which will own the Tauranga plant and the Coromandel farming operations.

ENDS

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