HARVEY Beef officially opened its state-of-the-art retail-ready facility in Harvey last Friday.
It will hit full production next week, and a new range of Harvey Beef-branded products will soon be available in Coles, IGA and other independent stores.
Harvey Beef will also be the exclusive supplier of beef and lamb products to Aldi in WA when it opens this month.
Since Andrew Forrest's Minderoo Group acquired Harvey Beef in May 2014, the company has invested more than $25 million in upgrading and expanding the facilities.
The new facility is one of only three in Australia which allows for export from an integrated facility of retail-ready products to consumers around the world.
The facility was opened by The Nationals WA leader and Regional Development Minister Terry Redman, alongside Mr Forrest and his wife Nicola.
The facility has full export accreditation due to its integrated location onsite at Harvey, connected to the main beef processing facility.
Mr Forrest said Harvey Beef was honoured to be able to deliver the finest beef produced by WA farmers to the world, whilst capturing additional value and creating jobs locally.
"The retail packaging facility allowed Harvey Beef to service the domestic and export customers with the highest quality WA beef through a totally integrated paddock to plate model," Mr Forrest said.
"Through this investment we will take advantage of high-growth, high-value premium opportunities in export markets at the intersection of what consumer's desire and what WA businesses can produce."
Indago Solutions director Steve Meerwald said he was impressed with the plant, and that it could produce more than 60 packages a minute.
"It is a great investment in the WA beef industry," he said.
"For producers, retailers and the export market; it is good to see someone is prepared to back the interest in agriculture with a sound and solid investment.
"I think once you have a facility like this you can adapt it to do a range of things and I think it has opened up a whole world of opportunities for Harvey Beef but also for WA producers, which is fantastic news."
The facility will retail packaged beef from WA producers and lamb products supplied through WAMMCO to Aldi, generating 50 new jobs.
Minderoo Group head of investment John Hartman said Aldi was supporting WA beef producers and the industry by sourcing local products.
"Harvey Beef is proud to be partnering with Aldi for the supply of retail-ready beef and lamb products in WA," Mr Hartman said.
"Harvey Beef and Aldi share a passion for the highest standards of quality and excellence to deliver the best possible products to our customers every day."
The facility is made up of a mix of leading Italian and German-made equipment complemented by locally-made conveyors.
Cutting edge traceability technology is built into the tamper-proof packaging which means consumers can use a smart phone app to verify the authenticity and provenance of the product.
Harvey Beef had received expressions of interest from overseas customers for its premium products.
While the lamb will be sold domestically, beef product produced in Harvey will be airfreighted and delivered overnight to the leading supermarkets of Asia, putting premium Harvey Beef branded product on the shelves.
The growing beef markets of Asia; mainly in Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, China, Japan, and South Korea; and the Middle East will be a key focus for export of chilled and frozen retail-ready product.
New Norcia cattle producer Graham Nixon said the old days of cutting up a rump by hand were gone.
"The accidents of the old days will be minimised with those new slicers and that type of technology; it's not done manually anymore," Mr Nixon said.
"There are still a lot of jobs and the throughput could go up a lot too.
"Doing the packing here has a huge advantage for efficiency and also exporting opportunities."
Mr Nixon said technology had been slow to come to Australia.
"New Zealand is normally first to implement this type of technology," he said.
"But it is good to see WA implementing these systems to eliminate that knife work and become more efficient."
Harvey Beef is the biggest beef processor in WA, with an integrated processing facility which holds an extensive set of licences for frozen and chilled beef export.
The business processes 140,000 head of cattle per annum and employs 450 people, servicing the domestic market and exporting to more than 40 countries around the world.
Mr Forrest said Harvey Beef was delivering true product to plate.
"We're not talking paddock to Wanneroo," he said.
"We are talking WA paddocks to Beijing and all over the world."
