Repurposing the soon‑to‑be vacant Golden North factory in Laura into a plant‑based food manufacturing facility could yield substantial benefits across economic, social and environmental dimensions:

1. Leveraging Existing Infrastructure and Workforce
The Golden North site includes ready‑made food‑grade production lines, cold storage and logistics connections—elements that typically account for up to 40 % of the capital costs in building new plants. By retrofitting rather than building from scratch, investors can accelerate time to market and reduce upfront investment by an estimated 20–30 %¹. Moreover, Laura’s workforce of roughly 80 skilled food‑manufacturing employees facing displacement could be retained, preserving local incomes and livelihoods.

2. Aligning with Regional Agriculture
The Mid North of South Australia is one of the nation’s pulse‑cropping hubs: lentil and chickpea production has expanded to over 290,000 t annually, with 95 % of lentils exported mainly to the Indian subcontinent.

A plant‑based facility could source these high‑protein crops locally, adding value onshore and reducing the “farm‑gate to factory” transport distances that currently drive up costs and emissions.

3. Capturing a Rapidly Growing Market
Australia’s plant‑based sector is on a strong growth trajectory, with the soy and almond milk segment forecast to expand at 5.5 % through 2028, and health snack foods at 3.1 %  to 2030. Converting the Laura facility enables Golden North or a new operator to enter or scale in these markets swiftly, tapping into both domestic demand and lucrative export channels across Asia.

4. Supporting State and Federal Initiatives
South Australia’s Future Protein Mission (CSIRO) explicitly aims to “scale‑up Australia’s processing and manufacturing expertise and facilities, such as plant protein fractionation” to build an onshore end‑to‑end supply chain. The State Government has already earmarked $1 million for community infrastructure in Laura following the factory’s announced relocation, underlining political will to attract new food‑processing industries.

5. Delivering Environmental Benefits
Plant‑based proteins dramatically outperform animal products on greenhouse‑gas and land‑use metrics: low‑impact beans and peas emit as little as 0.3 kg CO₂‑eq per 100 g of protein and require around 1 m² of land for the same protein yield, compared to ~12 kg CO₂‑eq and ~370 m² per 100 g protein for beef A Laura plant‑based line would thus lock in a lower‑carbon production footprint, aligning with corporate net‑zero goals and consumer demand for sustainable foods.

6. Bolstering Community Resilience
Replacing a single‑product plant with a diversified plant‑based complex can stabilize local employment and attract auxiliary services (e.g., packaging, logistics, equipment maintenance). It also dovetails with regional diversification strategies that aim to buffer rural towns against the risks of single‑industry dependence

Harnessing Laura’s established factory and workforce to produce high‑value, low‑impact plant‑based foods presents a win‑win: it injects new economic life into a town facing closure of its century‑old employer, supports South Australia’s strategic protein ambitions, and helps decarbonise Australia’s food system.

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The possibility of replacing the abattoir at Pt Wakefield, SA, with a plant-based food manufacturing facility. Taking into account the basic material availability in SA.

South Australia’s Seven Point Pork Abattoir at Port Wakefield is scheduled to close in January 2026, eliminating nearly 300 jobs and leaving a void in the local economy and industrial infrastructure. With JBS Australia citing reduced orders and limited pig supply as primary reasons, local MPs and stakeholders are engaging in crisis talks to identify alternative uses for the site and mitigate the social and economic impacts. Replacing this facility with a plant-based food manufacturing operation could leverage South Australia’s strong pulses and broadacre cropping sectors, create new employment opportunities, and support regional diversification.

1. South Australia’s Crop Production and Material Availability
South Australia remains a major contributor to Australia’s broadacre cropping, with 2023–24 total grain production estimated at around 9.0 million tonnes, returning to average levels following a record season. Despite drought pressures, the 2023–24 pulse harvest was particularly strong: lentil production jumped to approximately 510,878 tonnes (up from 362,260 tonnes the previous year), while faba beans yielded around 209,305 tonnes graincentral.comagriculture.gov.au. Even though the 2024–25 season experienced a 43 percent drop in total grain production (estimated at 5.2 million tonnes), pulse crops have demonstrated resilience and continue to represent a robust feedstock for protein extraction and plant-based ingredients pir.sa.gov.au. This abundance of lentils, faba beans, peas, and chickpeas—coupled with complementary oilseed (canola) and cereal outputs—ensures a stable feedstock supply for a dedicated plant-protein or plant-based food facility in the region.

2. Existing Plant-Based Manufacturing Initiatives in South Australia
Beginning in 2022, a consortium including Australian Plant Proteins (APP), Thomas Foods International, and the Australian Milling Group secured federal and state funding (approximately $378 million in total) to build three pulse-to-protein manufacturing hubs in SA, pledging to produce 25,000 tonnes of pulse protein isolates annually, graincentral.cominvest.sa.gov.au. These plans envisioned end-to-end value chains—from farm through processing to export—bolstered by an R&D hub at SARDI (South Australian Research and Development Institute) to accelerate product innovation dti.sa.gov.au. However, in early 2024, both federal ($113 million) and state ($65 million) governments withdrew their commitments, leading to the consortium’s collapse and shelving of the facilities adelaidenow.com.au. Despite this setback, the strategic vision remains: SA’s pulse output and processing expertise provide an established foundation for plant-protein manufacturing, suggesting that a scaled-down or publicly supported facility—especially one reusing existing infrastructure—could still be feasible.

3. Site Infrastructure and Logistics at Port Wakefield
Port Wakefield’s industrial site benefits from its location on Highway 1 (Port Wakefield Road), which carries nearly 9,000 vehicles per day and surges to around 16,000 during peak periods, facilitating efficient road transport of agricultural commodities. Historically, Port Wakefield served as a 19th-century wheat export hub on Gulf St Vincent, with rail links feeding the Wakefield River port before larger ports took precedence. Although the original port is no longer active for bulk shipping, rapid road connectivity to major bulk terminals—such as Port Bonython (iron ore, grains), Lucky Bay (grains), and Wallaroo (grain transshipment)—means that pulses or other crops grown nearby could be trucked to these export facilities with minimal additional infrastructure Moreover, existing utilities on the abattoir site (water, electricity, wastewater) could be repurposed for food-grade processing lines, reducing capital expenditure compared to greenfield developments.

4. Feedstock Sourcing and Supply Chain
Most pulse production in SA occurs in the Mid North, Yorke Peninsula, and Murraylands regions, all within a 200 km radius of Port Wakefield. These areas collectively produce over half a million tonnes of lentils, faba beans, and chickpeas each year; additionally, barley, wheat, and canola outputs provide by-products (e.g., hulls, meal) usable in other plant-based formulations pir.sa.gov.aupir.sa.gov.au. For example, faba bean and lentil protein isolates—suitable for plant-based meat analogues—could be sourced directly from local growers, reducing inbound transport costs and ensuring supply chain traceability. Furthermore, industry groups like Grain Producers SA and PIRSA (Primary Industries and Regions SA) periodically coordinate harvest schedules, facilitating the timely aggregation of feedstock for processing facilities established near major cropping zones. Seasonal variability (e.g., drought-driven production dips) remains a risk; however, blending across multiple pulse species (lentils, faba beans, peas) and supplementing with imported soy or imported pea protein (if needed) could smooth production volumes.

5. Economic and Social Considerations
Replacing the abattoir’s 300 direct jobs with roles in plant-based manufacturing (e.g., feedstock handling, protein extraction, formulation, packaging) could mitigate local unemployment and revitalise Port Wakefield’s economy. Wage profiles and skill sets will differ—shifting from meat-processing butchers and packers to food scientists, machine operators, and QC technicians—but reskilling initiatives could be implemented through TAFE SA campuses in the Mid North or via apprenticeship programs co-funded by PIRSA’s Enabling Infrastructure Program (which recently granted $1 million to Port Wakefield for community rejuvenation) greatersa.com.auwrc.sa.gov.au. Downstream benefits include diversifying local farming incomes—pulse growers would have a higher-value domestic market for their crops, stabilising farm gate returns in volatile export markets. However, the loss of associated livestock supply chains (pig farmers, feedlots) requires careful transition planning, possibly by repurposing livestock feedlots into legume storage or feed mills producing input blends for plant-based ingredients.

6. Challenges and Mitigation Strategies
Key challenges include:

  • Capital Investment Risks: The collapse of the $378 million consortium underscores risks of large-scale private investments, adelaidenow.com.au. A phased approach—starting with a smaller protein-isolate plant (e.g., 5,000 t annual capacity) before scaling up—could reduce initial capital needs. Government grants under the Modern Manufacturing Initiative or state-level Advanced Manufacturing. The strategy might be reactivated to de-risk the early stage.

  • Market Competition: Australia’s domestic plant-based market is growing but remains smaller than European or North American markets. Nevertheless, proximity to Asia (e.g., Singapore, Malaysia) and existing agri-export channels via Spencer Gulf can be leveraged for high-value exports (pulse-based ingredients, fermented plant proteins).

  • Seasonal Variability: SA’s variable rainfall and increasing drought frequency could reduce pulse outputs in some years. Mitigation could include sourcing from cross-border regions (e.g., Victorian Mallee) or contracting growers for guaranteed volumes, supplemented by importing feedstock in lean years.

  • Skilled Workforce: The shift to precision food manufacturing demands technical skills. Partnerships with the University of Adelaide, Flinders University, and SARDI for R&D and workforce training could bridge gaps, as could collaboration with Stacked Farm (a Queensland-based vertical farming pioneer) to share automation best practices.

7. Conclusion
South Australia’s robust pulse and cereal production—over 9 million tonnes of grain and more than half a million tonnes of pulses in 2023–24—provides a strong feedstock base for a plant-based facility near Port Wakefield. While previous large-scale plant-protein projects have stalled, a strategically phased, public-private partnership model could leverage existing infrastructure, local feedstock, and export logistics to create a viable, value-added industry; this would also offset the socio-economic impacts of the abattoir’s closure by generating new employment and stabilising farm incomes. To succeed, stakeholders must address capital risks through government funding, manage seasonal supply variability via diversified sourcing, and invest in workforce development to ensure technical competency. Such an approach can transform Port Wakefield into a node in SA’s growing plant-based food value chain, supporting regional resilience and aligning with global protein-transition trends.