Inverell-based Bindaree Food Group has signed up to a minimum three-year service contract with the Casino Food Co-Op and launched a new export beef brand for itself.
Bindaree Food Group chief executive officer, Andrew McDonald, confirmed the deal at the Casino Beef Week industry dinner, which the company sponsored.
The new wholesale brand, JR McDonald, will be processed at the Casino co-op, targeting premium markets in Asia and the US.
John "JR" McDonald was Bindaree's founder.
The two announcements represented a "back to the future" commitment to Casino Co-op from the Bindaree Food Group, which started its operations at the NSW North Coast facility in 1981.
"Casino was our very first home, and the company's first ever products came out of the co-op," Mr McDonald said.
"Although now we have facilities across Australia, the Casino area continues to play an important role for us in both supply and production, and this three-year agreement is a further extension of that long and warm relationship."
The latest step was part of a significant expansion by Bindaree, which also includes around $60 million in recent and upcoming investments in plant and equipment.
Mr McDonald said beef processed in Casino would be used in the company's other new line of products, Bindaree Butchery.
These would be sold across Australia and internationally, too.
"Together, our additional expenditure in Casino and our own capital works at our Inverell facility and elsewhere will bring great benefits for regional NSW beef producers by making us more competitive more strongly on global markets," he said.
"We are very pleased to sign this new agreement which will inject significant revenue into the co-op and support dozens of direct and indirect jobs for local workers."
Andrew Marshall
Andrew Marshall is the group agribusiness writer for ACM's state agricultural weeklies and websites. He is a former editor at The Land and has worked in various Rural Press group roles in Canberra, North Richmond (NSW) and Toowoomba (Qld).
Andrew Marshall is the group agribusiness writer for ACM's state agricultural weeklies and websites. He is a former editor at The Land and has worked in various Rural Press group roles in Canberra, North Richmond (NSW) and Toowoomba (Qld).
