CAQA Southern Cross Meat Processing
CAQA Southern Cross Meat Processing operates an export registered beef and small stock processing establishment in north east Victoria. The plant supplies chilled and frozen primal cuts, manufacturing beef, edible offal and co-products to domestic retailers, food service distributors and export customers in Japan, Korea, the United States and the Middle East. Cattle are processed on a single shift chain and sheep and lambs on a second chain, feeding a boning room, carton packing lines, plate freezers, a rendering plant and a dedicated halal program. Livestock come from family farms, feedlots and saleyards across the Riverina and north east Victoria through a small buying team.
The business runs from three sites. The processing plant near Wodonga holds the lairage, two slaughter floors, carcase chillers, the boning room, packing lines, cold store and rendering plant, and works a production shift from 5:30 am followed by an afternoon clean-down and a night pre-operational hygiene crew. A cold store and distribution centre in Dandenong South holds domestic stock and consolidates orders for metropolitan customers. A livestock buying office in Wagga Wagga coordinates procurement and transport. Six departments report to the General Manager, and the 6:15 am production meeting sets the kill plan, boning specifications and loadout schedule for the day.
Southern Cross holds export registration with the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and a domestic licence with PrimeSafe, and operates an Approved Arrangement built on HACCP principles. On-plant meat inspection, Meat Hygiene Assessment, chiller assessment to AUS-MEAT requirements and Meat Standards Australia grading run every production day. Animal welfare is governed by a documented program with trained animal welfare officers on every shift. Safety is managed under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 with a focus on knife injuries, manual handling, cold and wet floors, ammonia refrigeration and mobile plant. Every record the plant keeps is available to students through the systems on this site.