| 47 Silver Fern Farms - Dargaville REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT Proud history - page 48 Around 25% of the meat Dargaville processes is chilled and sold in sealed vacuum packs to countries such as New Caledonia and the Middle East. We here at Semeno Livestock Limited have been working with Silver Fern Farms transporting livestock around the North Island for 28 years, since the Dargaville facility was irst opened in 1993. With Hilders Livestock then United livestock and more recently with Roydons Mamaranui Transport and Neville Brothers Livestock we have been integral partners with Silver Fern Farms mainly carting to Dargaville, but also to their other plants in the North Island. Semenoff—proudly working with Silver Fern Farms With trucks located in all areas of the North, from Silverdale to Kaikohe, Whangarei and Dargaville we are well positioned to provide excellent service to Silver Fern Farms and their customers. We have a great team of dispatchers and drivers with excellent local knowledge to keep the yard stocked up. Without the strong support of Silver Fern Farms and their customers we would not be able to support our communities as much as we do. From local schools, sports clubs and even Northland’s biggest sports stadium, now known as Semeno Stadium. Without community support businesses don’t survive then communities fade away. We like to thank our local farmers who keep supplying our local processors keeping the communities working together for a better future. And we are very grateful to Silver Fern Farms for the excellent cooperation and the support they are giving us – it’s much appreciated. Stan Semenoff Group South End Avenue PO Box 6058 Whangarei 0147 09 438 1020 info@semenoffgroup.co.nz pioneer of hot boning, Graham was integral to the deregulation of the meat industry. Hailing from the Hawke’s Bay, Graham owned a number of ventures in the Bay including Dawn Meat. A strong cattle supply up North, his vision was to build a plant in the region and after a 12-week build Lowe Walker was ready for operation June 1993. The business was sold to Richmond Limited, a Hawke’s Bay farmer owned business, in 1998 and shortly afterwards taken over by South Island company PPCS (Primary Producers Cooperative Society), which rebranded as Silver Fern Farms a few years later. In addition to a significant contribution to the region’s economy through wages and salaries, the plant has a policy of maximising the local spend through its purchasing policy. “We are well respected in the community,” says Lance. “I had the Dargaville Mayor call me to say how fortunate the community was to have the plant here and bringing the income into town when so many businesses are struggling. “We also do a lot of sponsorships with local farming events, local schools and sporting activities. We are the major sponsor of Sports Northland.” For the last five years Silver Fern Farms has funded the Dargaville Community Whanau Day held close to Christmas. Starting off as a fun day for its staff, the team joined up with non-profit organisations in the region and made it a big day attended by over a 1000 people in the community. Lance says while meat processing can be a challenging industry to be in, it is also very rewarding.
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