Goodman Fielder to Close Plant in Sydney

Goodman Fielder Limited, a food company, has announced that it intended to close its oils manufacturing plant at Mascot in southern Sydney and commence building a new packaged food manufacturing plant in western Sydney.

Construction of the new plant is expected to commence early in 2008, with completion and the closure of Mascot expected to be around June 2009.

Peter Margin, managing director of Goodman Fielder, said: “When this new low-cost, flexible manufacturing facility is completed, the bulk oil production that is currently undertaken at the Mascot plant will be transferred to existing plants in Brisbane and Melbourne. Retail grocery product production will be transferred from Mascot to the new western Sydney plant.”

The new site, which will be located close to distribution centers operated by Goodman Fielder’s major customers, will be developed and owned by a third party and operated by Goodman Fielder under a lease arrangement.

Mr Margin said: “We plan to invest around $30 million in new plant and equipment and the site will also include a modern fully equipped research and development facility to ensure that we stay at the forefront of new product innovation. Part of the new facility will include a bulk tank farm from where we will be able to distribute the freshest oil at competitive prices to our Sydney customers.”

The Mascot plant employs around 120 people and the company will endeavor to place employees in other parts of the business.