STANELCO Plc>>THE LATEST INFORMATION.

An ASDA supplier, ripe for RF conversion ....



ASDA today (5th Aug) gave the official seal of approval to a multi-million pound partnership deal with the new flagship food processing plant being developed by The Dawn Group in West Wales. Dawn's new £32 million state-of-the-art plant is nearing completion on a 20-acre site on the Cross Hands Food Park.


The partnership was firmly cemented with the official opening of the first phase of Dawn's 215,000 sq ft plant - an area dedicated to accommodating ASDA's requirements for centrally packed meats. Dawn's plant is the first of three high quality production facilities that will cater for ASDA's needs following the company's decision to change to a centrally packed meat operation. The other two sites, which will come on stream later, are sited in Winsford and Doncaster.


The newly opened facility will deliver up to 500 tonnes of pork and beef retail packs to ASDA each week. When fully operational in the autumn the plant will also be able to pack another 500 tonnes per week of premium pre-packaged, cooked, smoked and bbq meats.


Opening the new ASDA-dedicated site Angela Spindler, ASDA Trading and Marketing Director, said: "I'm very proud to officially open this new facility today. Suppliers are the lifeblood of our business and it is only through innovative projects such as these that we are able to better serve our customers."


Brian Haigh, ASDA Fresh Meat General Manager, said: "This new plant will enable us to improve the choice, availability and quality of our meat range which will help drive sales and increase customer satisfaction."


Mark Allan, General Manager of the new plant, said: "Today is a new chapter in the development and growth of The Dawn Group in Wales and very much a red letter day in our burgeoning relationship with ASDA - a partnership that clearly illustrates the commitment of both parties. Dawn has invested heavily in Cross Hands - in respect of the plant, equipment and the workforce. It is the Group's largest and most sophisticated equipped plant - highly computerised and automated with the latest robotic and cutting machinery. ASDA has hugely increased the amount of business it has placed with us, showing great confidence in our ability to deliver and to help take both companies to the forefront of a very competitive industry."


Welcoming the successful partnership between the Dawn Group and ASDA Welsh Development Agency Executive Director, Mike King, said: "The development of this superb facility is vitally important for the rural economy which is why it has had such strong support from all the Team Wales players" the Welsh Assembly Government, the WDA and Carmarthenshire County Council. "It is Wales' first dedicated food park and developed to help food processors bring added value to their products. This new partnership clearly illustrates how successful this has been and it is pleasing to see that one of the UK's leading supermarkets intends to stock an increasingly high level of food lines processed in Wales."


The Dawn Group, has already relocated and recruited some 200 staff to operate the first phase and when fully operationally will become one of the biggest private sector employers in West Wales with a workforce of more than 600. The Cross Hands plant is one of a network of nine production sites that The Dawn Group operates across the UK and which serves ASDA and other leading high street retailers, manufacturers and food service customers.


Dawn's Pontardawe facility, which employs 50 staff, will be incorporated into the new plant that in addition to premium pre-packaged products, will provide a computer controlled chilled intake area as well as a test kitchen with a heavy emphasis on new product development.