Abattoir Process & Equipment In Australia
In Australia, abattoirs must follow regulatory requirements during animal slaughter and processing. To meet these requirements it’s critical that abattoirs have the right equipment to ensure efficient and safe meat processing, for both the animals and the workers.
FPE are an Australian-owned and operated supplier of meat processing equipment that helps abattoirs and meat processors meet regulatory requirements. We partner with meat processors to drive efficiency and meet high quality standards by supplying industry-leading equipment.
In 2021-22, Australia’s red meat industry turnover was around $75.4 billion, up 7.7% from the previous year. With opportunities to capture a share of this expanding market, knowing where to source reliable equipment, with easily available parts and consumables, is key to a successful operation.
End-to-end red meat abattoir processes
From stunning cattle to skinning, deboning and ensuring that frozen cartons achieve maximum and fair value upon sale, FPE’s equipment from world-leading suppliers facilitates a smooth meat processing operation.
Stunning livestock
Animals are legally required to be stunned before they are slaughtered in Australia, though an exemption may apply to halal slaughter and other religious methods.
Cattle stunning may be mechanical, electrical or gas. Captive bolt stunning is a clear choice for many abattoirs, inducing unconsciousness and reducing the likelihood the animal will regain consciousness during bleed out. Captive bolt stunning is where a mechanical blow is delivered to the skull, causing immediate unconsciousness.
Accles and Shevolke engineer precise, effective captive bolt stunners of high quality and reliability that prioritise animal welfare and productivity.
Separation of dirty and clean areas
Hygiene in an abattoir is critical to meeting quality standards. This means effectively isolating clean and dirty production rooms.
Cleaning and hygiene stations for workers to use before entering the production room, sanitising conveyor belts and stainless steel, easy-to-clean machinery is key to ensuring sanitisation and food safety at each step.
Head and hoof removal
Heads and hooves are the first part removed from carcasses. Completing hoof removal efficiently and without fuss is easy with stainless steel machines designed for the purpose by Materiels Charles Mecal (MCM). MCM hoof removal and head dehairing machines are designed for easy operation and fast cleaning.
Skinning
A reliable membrane skinner is key to successful, efficient skinning and maximal meat yield.
Grasselli’s skinning machines put operator safety first. These machines are extremely precise and efficient, allowing excellent production capacity and yields. Abattoirs may choose fully-automatic derinders to further increase productivity.
Offal cleaning
One way abattoirs can maximise yield is by ensuring no usable part of the slaughtered animal is wasted. Washing offal using a centrifuge machine for onselling helps to optimise profitability without increasing the headcount.
Abattoir Equipment For Offal Processing
Trimming the carcass
Choosing lightweight and ergonomically designed trimmers helps operators remove unwanted fat from the carcass or trim meat from bones to achieve maximum yields, ensuring no part of the slaughtered animal is wasted.
Trimmers can be used for beef bone trimming, lean recovery, deboning and defatting. Bettcher trimmers are designed to make the process as efficient and smooth as possible for operators, whilst minimising worker fatigue.
Mechanical handling of meat products
Outloading waste and offcuts and moving product between rooms during processing is easier with suitable, easy-to-clean mechanical handling equipment. From Eurobins to sanitising conveyor belts, SYSPAL equipment is designed to make moving meat product more efficient and ergonomically sound.
Deboning
Removing meat from bone effectively is one way to maximise beef yield. Separators from POSS or Sepamatic separate bone from meat using mechanical separation techniques that optimise yields. The usable output is mechanically separated meat, used in producing burgers, sausages, salami, pet food and bolognese.
Inspecting product before out loading
Using bespoke X-Ray technology from Eagle PI can detect physical contamination, ensuring the beef product that reaches buyers is of the highest quality, maintaining relationships and meeting expectations.
Ensuring a fair price for frozen cartons means verifying the chemical lean of the final product before outloading. Dual X-Ray Absorptiometry (DEXA) measures the chemical lean of meat accurately, empowering abattoirs to capitalise on the true value of meat trim.
Slaughterhouses without DEXA technology or those that want to verify the accuracy and calibration of the equipment can book chemical lean testing with FPE. This is just one of the services we provide to support our partners.
Ready to optimise your meat processing operation with an Australian supply partner?
Abattoirs in Australia can embrace opportunities to scale and automate processes, improving productivity and yield with the right combination of meat processing equipment.
Partnering with FPE for abattoir equipment benefits meat processors — with access to over 40 years of experience, our team can support your operation to drive efficiency and scale to meet new domestic demand and beef export opportunities.
Frequently asked questions
What are the stages of an abattoir?
Antemortem inspection occurs before stunning. After stunning, the animal is slaughtered, exsanguinated, skin is removed, evisceration removes offal and guts, post-mortem inspection ensures product quality and safety, then final preparation and chilling, which may include freezing, before outloading the meat product.
What happens inside an abattoir?
The animals are stunned and slaughtered and carcasses are cleaned, this occurs in the ‘dirty’ side of the abattoir. Strict hygiene and cleaning protocols ensure that the ‘clean’ side of the abattoir keeps meat being prepared for human consumption free from physical or chemical contamination.