Morrisons’ manufacturing arm has announced a restructuring of its abattoir operations that will see all its pork operations taking place at its Colne abattoir, in Lancashire.
The move means pigs will no longer be slaughtered at the Spalding abattoir, in Lincolnshire, with two single-species boning halls focusing on pigs at Colne and beef at Spalding.
The future of the Woodheads abattoir at Spalding has long been under discussion and the questions increased after it emerged that Morrisons had given notice to numerous independent pig producers. The move means it will be cutting reducing pig numbers by thousands per week when the contract changes come into effect. At the time, in May, Morrisons, the only major retailer to own its abattoir facilities, blamed the ‘challenging economic climate’.
Explaining the restructuring of its abattoirs, a spokesperson for the Myton Food Group, Morrisons’ manufacturing arm, said: “Our Woodheads business operates in a highly competitive industry which is currently facing significant external challenges, with rising inflation driving up the cost of energy, fuel, packaging, transport, and labour. At the same time shifting consumer preferences mean we are seeing changes in demand patterns.
“Against this backdrop, it’s essential that we proactively manage our operating costs and maximise efficiency to ensure we can continue to deliver for customers and remain competitive.
“We are therefore proposing a new operational structure for two of our Woodheads sites, which will streamline their operations into two separate Centres of Excellence by creating single species boning halls at Spalding (beef) and Colne (pork).
“Consolidation of production volumes for each species on a single site will increase efficiency, unlock synergies and open up new growth opportunities, including potential export opportunities currently unavailable to the business.
“The proposal will protect and strengthen our Woodhead’s business and position it for growth.”
The spokesperson said the group ‘continues to develop and grow, strengthening its position as one of the UK’s leading food manufacturing businesses’.
“As we do this we are continuing to innovate, embracing new technologies and ways of working to capture efficiencies, position the business for further growth and ensure we can continue to deliver competitively priced, high quality products to our customers.
“At the same time, we remain fully committed to UK farming and the relationships we have built up with individual farmers over decades.”