We have begun the financial year with operational and financial challenges as we worked hard to turnaround our Further Processing restructure in Australia to deliver higher volumes and lower costs.
The New Zealand team report that they are on track, having delivered year-on-year growth despite virus containment measures that restricted chicken exports and led to an oversupply in the market.
Demand for core poultry across Australia and New Zealand of 4.1 per cent means strong ongoing consumer demand for healthier food rich in protein. This has a positive flow-on effect to Ingham’s as we work together to deliver increased volumes of chicken and turkey to our customers. This resulted in 4.7 per cent volume growth in Australia and 0.9 per cent growth in New Zealand.
Staying true to our commitment to long-term success, we have invested $40 million for business growth during the six months. This included the following:
- a new hatchery project in Queensland, which is world-leading for animal welfare
- a new chiller equipment in our processing plants in Victoria and Western Australia, and
- a new de-boner in New Zealand
Feed is a large cost in our business, and we are paying higher prices due to the ongoing impact of the drought and having to export feed from other states for our facilities in New South Wales and Queensland.
We continue to monitor impacts to the business such as adverse weather and bushfires to ensure we can mitigate any negative impact.
Our bushfire planning process enabled us to protect our people and facilities during the recent bushfire crisis, including evacuation at our facilities in New South Wales and South Australia. Despite some logistical delivery challenges in Western Australia and in the coastal supply chain on the East Coast due to the bushfires, our teams have worked tirelessly to get our product to our customers and to the public.
The company’s long-term outlook will be supported by our continuous improvement teams to drive efficiency in our business and our five-year strategic plan to ensure we are fit for growth.
Ingham’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Jim Leighton, said, “The company’s results reflect the hard work of the Ingham’s team who take great care in our animals and are committed to providing quality innovative products to our customers and consumers.”