Page 13 - Australian Pork Newspaper

D’Orsogna powering ahead with state-of-the art facility
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WITH demand for its hams and small- goods powering ahead, D’Orsogna’s Palmyra, Western Australia head- quarters and its new state-of-the-art $66 million facility at Mel- bourne, Victoria, are operating at close to maximum capacity.
Managing director Greig Smith said having established such a signifi- cant production base on the east coast had not on- ly complemented produc- tion at Palmyra, but had quickly built and grown new markets in its first six months.
“While D’Orsogna has long been one of the most-recognised brands at Woolworths, Coles and Metcash and across major foodservice busi- nesses, we’re now see- ing substantial growth in some exciting new mar- kets and from our val- ued traditional base,” Mr Smith said.
“This reflects not only our regularly refreshed product offerings, in terms of protein make-up and packaging, but also the stimulus and genuine
sense of excitement for our valued staff, custom- ers and consumers gen- erated by our new Mel- bourne facility.”
The 11,000sq m factory at Merrifield Business Park 30km north of Mel- bourne features 8500sq m of rooftop solar panels, comprising 2816 x 370W QCELL solar panels with 34 Fronius inverters, which will generate 1mW of power while reducing carbon emissions and saving close to $8 million over the 25-year life of the system.
D’Orsogna’s solar sys- tem, supplied and in- stalled by Cherry Energy Solutions, was financially supported by an Environ- mental Upgrade Agree- ment from Hume City Council and the Sustain- able Australia Fund, the first in the region.
While acknowledging the importance of invest- ing in such a sustainable clean energy system, Mr Smith said the real work of the business happened under the roof on the fac- tory floor.
“Of course we’ve also been very focused on sus-
tainability and productiv- ity on the factory floor, with various investments in resource use and envi- ronmental technologies, including automatic dos- ing of cleaning chemicals and water-saving equip- ment, for example.”
While all on-site cold rooms and chillers are computer controlled and energy efficient, where additional chilled stor- age is needed, typically at peak production times such as pre-Christmas, D’Orsogna only partners with those chilled stor- age providers that have their own energy efficient chilled storage facilities.
Other technologies at the new facility include computerised production monitoring systems, ro- botic picking and packing equipment and finished good scanning and inven- tory management systems to maximise yields, pro- duction efficiencies and customer service.
Global searches were conducted for the best available equipment with, for example, next-genera- tion slicers sourced from Germany.
About 70 percent of the floor space is allocated to production, including raw meat lines, smokehouses, chillers and cartoning.
The location was cho- sen to maximise access to arterial links and other essential services in Mer- rifield Business Park and the surrounding indus- trial precinct, as well as
proximity to major mar- kets within Victoria, as well as NSW, ACT, Tas- mania, South Australia and Queensland.
“Essentially, the new facility offers the D’Orsogna business addi- tional production capac- ity that will future-proof the business for years to come,” Mr Smith said.
Farmers encouraged to apply for energy efficiency award
NOMINATIONS for the National Energy Efficiency Awards 2020: Best Agricultur- al Energy Efficiency Project Award are now open, and energy-effi- cient farmers deliver- ing spark-savvy pro- jects are encouraged to nominate.
The new award, launched by the Queens- land Farmers’ Federa- tion in partnership with the Energy Efficiency Council, recognises the vital importance of ag- riculture to our economy and celebrates the inno- vation taking place on Australian farms.
QFF CEO Dr Georgina Davis said the award was
a great opportunity for energy efficiency pro- jects delivered ‘behind the farmgate’ to be cel- ebrated for their positive approach to energy man- agement.
“On-farm energy ef- ficiency projects allow farmers to realise energy savings and productivity improvements while re- ducing their carbon foot- print,” Dr Davis said.
“With significant en- ergy savings available from irrigation pump and lighting replace- ments, hot water system and air-conditioning up- grades, and the imple- mentation of renewable energy sources such as solar photovoltaic and
bioenergy, farmers con- tinue to embrace inno- vative energy use and management.
“Energy is such an in- tegral part of running a farm business, so Aus- tralian farmers dem- onstrating leadership and catalysing change in energy efficiency
by implementing new technologies, reducing energy use and deliver- ing energy savings are encouraged to apply.”
The winners of the Na- tional Energy Efficiency Awards 2020, including 10 other categories cel- ebrating various other projects, sectors and
energy-efficiency cham- pions, will be unveiled at a gala dinner on Tues- day, May 26, 2020 at the Pullman Melbourne on the Park.
For more information about the Best Agricul- tural Energy Efficiency Project Award and to ap- ply, visit eec.org.au
Rick Carter, PhD
Technical Services Manager – Pacific

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