Inghams Group has invested about $50 million to construct two new poultry breeder farms in Victoria, through a partnership with chicken grower ProTen.
The project involves building 16 highly automated production sheds across the two sites in Charlton and is scheduled to begin this month, with full operations projected for the first half of 2029.
Under the agreement, ProTen will oversee the development of the facilities, while Inghams will assume operational management upon completion.
The upcoming breeder farms are designed to incorporate advanced technology for egg grading and sorting, including artificial intelligence-based systems to individualise egg assessments.
According to the company, the expansion of the facility and its automated systems are intended to reduce transport costs and improve overall operational efficiency within the supply chain.
“This development represents an important investment in our Victorian farming operations and the Charlton community,” said Sheridan Alfirevich, Inghams’ GM of farming & milling.
“Building on our long-standing presence in the region, these new state-of-the-art breeder farms will meaningfully expand our national breeding capacity and deliver world-class animal welfare and biosecurity outcomes,” said Alfirevich.
ProTen, which currently manages over 800 poultry sheds across Australia and generates roughly 25 per cent of the nation’s total broiler chicken production, expects the facility to strengthen the domestic supply network.
The project has also received formal backing from the local municipal government.
“We are pleased to partner with Inghams in creating this state-of-the-art facility that will help feed Victoria into the future,” said James Wentworth, CEO of ProTen. “We are also very grateful for the support Buloke Council has provided for the project.”
Last month, the poultry-producing giant made an investment of more than $1 million into Just Meat Protein following a seed funding round.
