Alliance Freezing Company (Southland) Limited was founded by local farmers in
Invercargill in 1948. Their first large
freezing works was opened in 1980 at
Lorneville on the outskirts of Invercargill. From its base in
Invercargill Alliance runs freezing works nearby in
Southland at
Lorneville and
Mataura, further away at
Pukeuri in
Otago,
Timaru in
South Canterbury, and at
Nelson. There are two freezing works in the North Island at
Dannevirke and
Levin. A new $15.9 million venison plant opened at Lorneville in December 2018. Always a business belonging to farmers Alliance's ownership model was changed in 1960 to a
cooperative. The farmers who supply the livestock to be killed are the company's shareholders. The name of the cooperative was changed to Alliance Group Limited in 1990. On 18 October, the Alliance Group confirmed that it would close down its Smithfield meat processing plant in December 2024, citing declining sheep processing numbers caused by land use changes. ==References==