collaboration and cooperative capital

1600 1066 In Good Company | Northern Rivers
ncmc logo

Northern Co-operative Meat Company
10615 Summerland Way, Casino NSW 2470

www.ncmc-co.com.au

Visit Richmond Valley Northern Rivers-01
collaboration and cooperative capital

It comes as little surprise that one of the largest employers on the Northern Rivers is a co-operative, and with Casino being the beef capital of Australia, the industry makes sense too.

Northern Co-operative Meat Company (NCMC) is Australia’s largest meat processing co-operative and has been running since 1933. It’s 100% owned by its 1000 members – made up of graziers, pork producers and operators – and it employs 900 people across three sites in Casino and Booyong.

NCMC CEO Simon Stahl says the Northern Rivers has a long culture of people working together in business.

“It’s an essence of the region – it is actually the co-operative capital of Australia, with the heaviest concentration of co-operatives than anywhere else in the country,”

When the business was founded more than 85 years ago, most of the produce went to Sydney wholesale markets. These days more than 70% is exported to markets across Europe, the Middle East, Japan, Korea, China, Indonesia and the US.

As well as processing and distributing meat, there is also a hide tanning business in Casino (Casino Hide Tanners) that produces first class wet blue leather for export to China, India and Italy. While NCMC Foods is the marketing engine that supplies top shelf meats into restaurants, supermarkets and distributes world-wide.

Simon says Northern Rivers is the natural home for this business. “It’s perfectly positioned – we draw livestock from the best farming regions and we’re just down the road from the Port of Brisbane – a major export hub.”

The success of the Northern Rivers region as a whole has helped NCMC thrive over the decades, Simon says.

“This south-east corner is a huge growth market – particularly with tourism – and while that’s not necessary for our business, we can be successful on the back of it because it brings a greater range of services and it also brings a workforce.”

Despite the global reach of NCMC’s sales, there’s a strong local focus when it comes to running the business.

“We have a ‘buy local’ focus – it’s part of our collaborative DNA to buy local where we have the skills and services on the Northern Rivers.”

Northern Co-operative Meat Company (NCMC)

Share this story

Read more stories

Three generations of style

 940 627 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Scarboroughs
Running a small clothing shop in a country town is a fine art. It requires balance, delicacy and an open mind to serve the needs of locals, tourists, the area’s workers and more.

Flexing the entrepreneurial muscle

 2560 1707 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Summit Sport & Fitness
Like many Northern Rivers businesses, Summit Sport & Fitness has undergone immense change in 2022 – except, rather than being buffeted by floods or pandemic, these changes are positive, and mark a new chapter for owner Matthew George.

putting the business into ‘show business’

 2560 1709 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Brainstorm Productions
You might think that COVID-19 would rattle a business that delivers educational theatre into schools. But the “show must go on” mentality runs deep for Brainstorm Productions’ founder and artistic director Jenny Johnson…

A community cornerstone bouncing forward

 2048 1260 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Coraki Post Office
For all that has been thrown at the small town of Coraki in recent times, the owners of the town’s post office are rolling with the punches.

Mount Warning Tours Tweed

a natural business adventure

 1920 1080 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Mount Warning Tours
Despite only existing for four years, Mount Warning Tours’ short life has been eventful: from purchasing the ex-Murray River ferry Spirit of Wollumbin…

old-fashioned approach reaps rewards

 1000 667 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Kyogle Country Store
It feels like a brave decision, buying a hardware and rural supplies store in the age of the corporate superstores. Though it was a challenge…

Townsend taproom breakthrough brews

 1123 627 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Sanctus Brewing Co.
When Sanctus Brewing Co. began life in 2019, there was no indication that the brewery would go on to enjoy the immense success it has over the last three years.

Farmers in the fields

 2048 1366 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Norco Primex
Bruce Wright has made his career by bringing together and supporting many of the region’s farmers and primary producers.

spell_designs_byron_bay001

spellbinding growth for a home grown icon

 1000 667 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Spell Designs
The scent, texture and aura of Byron Bay is famous, and well-loved. If that Byron Bay feeling was a fashion brand, it would surely be Spell & The Gypsy Collective….

edmonds conveyancing ballina 001

home is where the heart is

 1920 847 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Edmonds Conveyancing
The legal aspects of buying and selling a property are not normally associated with having a laugh and even singing, but the Edmonds Conveyancing…

horizon motorhomes ballina 002

when opportunity knocks…

 1600 1067 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Horizon Motorhomes
When a campervan arrived on Clayton Kearney’s used car yard in 1995, and sold in seconds flat, he realised there was a gap in the market…

Alternative. Accessible. Affordable.

 2560 2553 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Nimbin Apothecary
Nimbin Apothecary is a herbal medicine dispensary providing acute over-the-counter consulting for herbal medicine prescriptions.

Delivering top service, come hospital or high water

 870 652 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

McLeans Freight Service
When Leisa Blok’s father, Laurie McLean, began running urgent nighttime blood deliveries from Lismore airport in 1992, he mightn’t have expected the one-man gig to expand into a 50-vehicle courier fleet, delivering across the entire northern NSW region.

husk distillers tweed 001

beauty and the bottle

 1280 853 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Husk Distillers
The Husk Distillers story starts in the tropical paradise of the Caribbean. Paul and his wife Mandaley Perkins were on holiday in 2009 and discovered…

northern_lights _ballina_northern_rivers_001

let there be light

 2000 1333 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Northern Light
“I eat a pot of honey every day and I’ve been stung more than 70,000 times,” says Jeffrey Gibbs, founder of Northern Light, an organic beeswax…

Keeping it real in the Tweed

 1706 2560 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Tweed Real Food
Tweed Real Food is a business launched in 2018 from a desire to be resilient. Little did founder Julia Foyster know how prescient her plan would turn out to be.

From trauma to business transformation

 1620 1080 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Our Cow
For Casino-based meat providers Our Cow, the last three years have seen remarkable, game-changing growth.

Evans Head Cabinetry 001

carefully crafted business success

 2000 1041 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Evans Head Cabinet Making
“People often say, ‘They don’t build things like they used to’,” says fine furniture and cabinet maker Justin Crisp. “But I can confidently say…”

the power of the win-win-win sustainability approach

 2560 1707 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

ENV Solutions
In less than seven years environmental consultancy ENV Solutions has grown from a one-man band in Ballina to a multi-award winning business with more than 25 staff across three locations…

A planet of business diversity

 2016 1512 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Tropical Fruit World
It’s been almost 50 years since Robert and Valorie Brinsmead bought the 200-acre farm in Murwillumbah.

Start Typing

X