Three weeks after its official opening, the $17.14 million Central Coast Food Manufacturing Innovation Hub at Ourimbah is preparing to welcome its first tenants. Food & Drink Business toured the facility to see the production spaces, pilot plant, and training programs designed to grow the region’s $2 billion food and beverage manufacturing sector.
The hub, led by not-for-profit manufacturing peak body Central Coast Industry Connect (CCIC), was officially opened last month, almost four years after funding was committed in the October 2022 federal budget. The facility broke ground in April 2025, with expressions of interest for tenancy opening last October.
CCIC Central Coast Food Alliance general manager, Alex Blow, said the project had been five years in the making and a key strategic and operational focus for the organisation over the last two years.
“The hub is more than just a building, although it is a pretty amazing building. Really, it’s a central coordination point for manufacturers, sector suppliers, researchers, education and training providers, and government to connect and collaborate,” Blow said.
Manufacturing contributes around nine per cent of the Central Coast’s total output, with roughly 1200 businesses employing just under 10,000 people, generating $1.8 billion in value add and up to $4.7 billion in total output. Food and drink manufacturers account for more than $2 billion of that, from SMEs through to Sanitarium, Mars, and Sara Lee.
Blow said the hub’s immediate focus is growing the food and beverage sector and its jobs, with a long-term vision of supporting all manufacturing sectors and “the Coast being recognised as a centre of excellence for manufacturing nationally”.
Lowering the barrier to entry
The 2100 square metre facility includes eight fully serviced food production spaces and a pilot plant, funded by the federal government, alongside state government funded training rooms. It sits adjacent to the University of Newcastle’s Ourimbah campus and the NSW Department of Primary Industries, with applied research collaboration built into its remit.
CCIC training and development manager, Nathan Scott, said the fit-out addressed one of the biggest hurdles for small food businesses trying to scale.
“The kind of setup you’re looking at, epoxy floors, clean sandwich panel walls, fast-action doors, all the services in place, is a very expensive outlay for a food business, especially a small food business,” Scott said.
“To come here and rent one of these spaces on a very reasonable rent, we’re a not-for-profit, is such a game changer for people to get that first foot in the door and start doing best practice.”
Waste handling is centralised, with trash compactors installed and a food biodigester planned, allowing waste separation and a working demonstration of circular economy practice that would be out of reach for most small operators, he said.
The equipment includes a food extruder capable of producing puffed snacks, pasta shapes, and texturised plant proteins. Scott said it was one of only a handful in Australia, with most tied up in research institutions and universities.
“Someone can come with an idea, maybe a waste product they want to try turning into a usable product, and just have a go,” he said.
Pilot plant and first tenants
CCIC brewer and operations manager, Tony Davis, runs the pilot plant, which includes a 250-litre steam-heated boil kettle, 300-litre brewing vessels, fermenters and bright tanks, a canning line, keg washer and filler, nitrogen doser, and deck and wrap ovens. Capabilities span beer, sodas, ready-to-drink beverages, soups, sauces, and syrups.
“One of the advantages of being small is we can do small co-packing runs,” Davis said.
Two occupants are confirmed. The Marshmallow Co, based at Wyoming on the Central Coast, is installing an automated production line to move from handmade, e-commerce focused output into retail, while a falafel manufacturer is relocating from Sydney, citing lower costs and better access to staff.
Workforce pipeline
The hub also anchors CCIC’s training programs, including a hands-on machine operator course of between two and four days, designed in direct response to industry feedback.
“What everyone said to us was, I want my people trained to know what they’re doing, to know the why behind recording data or following GMP and quality assurance procedures. But they also told us, I don’t want to give them up for very long. Any time away from the production line is money lost,” Scott said.
Scott can configure the pilot plant lines to fail on cue, forcing trainees to problem solve. The program has run with long-term unemployed job seekers, Aboriginal and young people, and all-female groups, alongside one-day school immersion days featuring speakers from Mars and Foods to Nourish.
A leadership stream sits within ManufactHER, the Central Coast Group Training led program backed by $920,000 from the federal Building Women’s Careers program, which is midway through its three-year run. Its second cohort is about to begin with four more manufacturers.
Blow said the hub was designed to become a centre of gravity for the sector, drawing capability out of Sydney as well as strengthening businesses already in the region.
“People realise we’re part of a big market. There’s plenty of customers to go around. So why not help someone with production, or share staff, or share expertise?” he said.
For more information or to express interest in tenancy, head to centralcoastindustryconnect.com.au.
