After 30 years, homestyle biscuit manufacturer Kooka’s is relocating. Same country town – Donald in western Victoria – but a bigger premises.
With the help of funds through the Victorian government’s Regional Jobs Fund, earthworks have been completed and the concrete slab poured, with construction and fitout set to be completed by the end of the year.
Kooka’s began almost 30 years ago supplying biscuits to the Donald community and surrounding districts.
The homestyle biscuits remain, but the original staff of five is now five times that, and the surrounding districts have grown as far as Vietnam and China.
The company currently produces 9837 kilograms of biscuits a week and the expansion will almost triple that to around 29,500 kilograms of biscuits per week.
Once the facility is commissioned, up to 11 new full-time jobs will be created in machine maintenance, quality control, processing, and administration.
Minister for Regional Development Mary-Anne Thomas said, “I’m pleased to see this long standing and successful business create more jobs for this region. It will enable the business to share their delicious cookies with more Victorians and across the country.”
“We have an amazing team of workers, a loyal local community who support us, a quality product range and a true Australian attitude,” the company said.
The new facility will also feature solar power and a maintenance shed to drive down energy and repair costs.
For Parliamentary Secretary for Regional Victoria Danielle Green, the build is a “sweet story of success for regional Victoria”.
