Tasmanian Quality Meats will increase its workforce by at least 10 people following the instalment of a new tripe processing line at its Cressy factory.
The award-winning company secured a $140,000 state government grant earlier this month, which will contribute towards the cost of the new processing line and an upgrade from a Tier 1 to a Tier 2 export licence.
The company will now be able to process and export tripe for the first time in its history, while the transition to a Tier 2 export licence will expand the company’s potential export partners from a group of 23 countries to all countries bar those in the European Union. Company director John Talbot said the company expected to employ between 10 and 14 new staff over a two-year period after securing the upgrades.
“Currently we've got around 80 to 90 people and this will put us over the hundred,” Mr Talbot said. “It'll take us a little bit of time to get up to speed and get all the jobs in place but we're looking forward to that and to help the local community.”
Mr Talbot said the Tier 2 licence presented an exciting opportunity for the business.
“We can, with some more paperwork that's got to be signed, go to the US as well, so we'll go to Japan and we're also going to put our name down to export in to China.
“That allows us a lot bigger scope to sell our products and hopefully we'll get a better return for our products in some of these other markets than what we're getting at the moment.”
Mr Talbot said continued support from the local community would be crucial to further expansion of the business, which has grown from 20 workers at the start of 2011. “We just need the support of the farmers to continue growing, and we've got a good team of people around us - a good management team and good workers.”
