End of the line for chicken processor?

Receivers of poultry company Finesse Foods will scale back operations with the imminent closure of operations at the Finesse Foods chicken processing and abattoir facilities in the South West.

Dermott McVeigh and Gary Doran from Deloitte said despite the firm’s best efforts it had been unable to negotiate a successful sale of the business with a prospective buyer.

``Given the ongoing financial losses incurred, there is no alternative but to immediately scale back operations before closing the business,’’ Mr McVeigh said.

Deloitte was appointed as joint and several receivers and managers following the appointment of voluntary administrators by the directors of two companies representing the Finesse Foods brand (Goldfin Enterprises Pty Ltd and GoldLevel Enterprises Pty Ltd) in November last year.

Mr McVeigh confirmed that in addition to a thorough investigation of the processing plant’s financial performance to determine if the operation could be returned to profitability, the receivers and managers also conducted an exhaustive national and international search in a bid to identify a potential buyer for the beleaguered plant.

The chicken processing facility has been operating in Bunbury since 1988, producing raw and value-added chicken products for the domestic and Asian markets, with a workforce of about 130.

Mr McVeigh confirmed that operations at the Bunbury processing facility run by Goldfin Enterprises will be scaled down before full closure in two weeks’ time, and the abattoir operation run by Goldlevel Enterprises at nearby Dardanup will remain in operation for up to 10 weeks, albeit on a scaled down basis, to close out processing of remaining poultry livestock in Finesse Foods’ process.

Goldfin Enterprises runs a chicken processing facility in Bunbury and GoldLevel Enterprises operates an abattoir in Dardanup.

Finesse Foods mainly supplies chicken products to the South West including to fast-food outlets like Red Rooster, but also exports chicken products throughout Asia and the South Pacific Islands.

The companies employ more than 130 people at their facilities in Bunbury and Dardanup and have over 100 suppliers in the area.