The Cummins flour mill was back up and running on Wednesday for the first time in more than 12 months, producing flour from locally-sourced Eyre Peninsula grains.
The previous flour mill operator, Cummins Milling Company, went into liquidation in July but the Butterfield family, who own the mill, restarted the business after finalising the purchase of the milling equipment on Friday.
Chief executive officer Bill Butterfield said he was excited to see the mill operating and wants to return it to “the grandeur days”.
“Today we’re expecting about 15 tonnes of flour, but hopefully we’ll soon be pumping out 20 tonnes of flour daily,” he said.
The mill produces multiple types of flour, consisting of plain, strong, bakers and self raising, and will soon produce a variety of flour mixes such as soy and linseed, soft white, and bun mix.
“We want to make the flour mill run bigger and better than it has ever run before,” Mr Butterfield said.
“We’ve had old customers of the mill call back and wanting to buy our product as the mill has reopened.
“It’s great to receive this level of community support”.
Mr Butterfield said there was no waste at the mill as the by-products of flour milling, bran and pollard, were sold as stock feed.
“Everything's used in this mill,” he said.
GRANT HELPS CUMMINS EXPANSION
A REGIONAL development grant of almost $350,000 will help expand the operations of Butterfields Farm Direct Stock Feeds located at the Cummins mill, creating at least 10 more jobs in the next three years.
The grant will go toward a $700,000, five-fold expansion of the stock feed production business, owned by the Butterfield family.
Mr Butterfield said the state government grant would enable the business to grow into the future, employ more staff on the site and increase demand to local grain suppliers.
“Our whole range of stock feeds are growing and growing all the time and our feeds are going all around Australia,” Mr Butterfield said.
“We're very proud to be an EP business using EP's premium grains.”
The expansion will include the ability to produce small-packed feed, such as poultry feed and rodent cubes.
Butterfields Farm Direct Stock Feeds employs six full time workers and will employ a further 10 by 2020.
The grant will be spent on new facilities and the purchase of new plant equipment for its stockfeed production.
New equipment will include silos, a grain mixer, grain weighing hopper, pelleting press, bagging machine and packaging plant.
Regional Development Minister Geoff Brock said the expansion would grow not only the Butterfields’ business but create flow-on benefits in the region to suppliers and distributors.
Separate to the stock feed business, the Butterfields have also reinvigorated the historic Cummins Flour mill and have the capacity to mill flour after purchasing the equipment from previous tenants.
The story Grant to expand Cummins stock feed business first appeared on Port Lincoln Times.
