The remaining two factories that are being built to satisfy Asda’s meat needs are edging closer to completion.
In Doncaster, ABP is just about to commission its new 120,000 sq ft, £18m plant. It would be up and running “October/November time” according to a spokesman.
ABP supplies Asda’s minced meat requirements, currently from a factory in Shrewsbury. However, this business will be transferred to the Doncaster plant when it is operational.
The factory, which has eight lines installed at a cost of £1m each, will also process beef steaks and roasting joints.
The facilities will be made available to other retailers, though the emphasis will be largely on the Asda contract. Meanwhile, in Cheshire, Grampian Country Food Group says it is in the process of recruiting 400 more staff for its new 10,000 sq ft plant, a converted and refurbished bacon factory in Winsford.
The highly automated factory is set to become fully operational by the end of this month.
Asda is switching from in-store butchery to meat packed centrally in three state-of-the-art factories - those in Winsford and Doncaster and a third, in Carmarthenshire, operated by Dawn Meats Group.
The Welsh plant was opened by Asda director Angela Spindler last month (The Grocer, August 14, p42).

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