The New South Wales government has invested $5.72 million into key regional projects, including $2.5m to Grove Juice for the opening of a new bottling line and $2.27m for Staughton Group to develop a Regional Demonstration Hub for chilling and freezing.
The government stated the funding is part of its approach to delivering smart investment, with local partners, to make a real difference for regional communities. Funding recipients will invest a further $17.74 million, to deliver new manufacturing technology and expand tourism.
Australian Juice Processing and Bottling, the business arm of Grove Juice, was granted $2.5m to install a new bottling line at its recently acquired Leeton juice facility, featuring automated and continuous operation that will include heating and blow moulding of containers, as well as filling, capping and labelling functions.
Source: Grove Juice
The facility was previously owned by Bega Group, which entered into a binding agreement to sell its Leeton juice extraction facility and assets last August. Financial advisor, Addisons, revealed it had sold for $11.4m in October, and Bega had entered into a long-term supply agreement with Grove to process fruit juice at the site for the Group’s beverage range.
Grove Juice fruit supplier, Vitonga Farms, shared in a statement on LinkedIn three weeks ago that the juicing facility acquisition had been completed, and operations officially expanded to Leeton.
“For us this expands our capacity in fruit processing and strengthens our commitment to our growers in the Griffith and Leeton areas who have been supplying us fruit for several decades,” the company stated.
The new bottling line will increase facility output to up to 100,000 containers per hour, ready for Grove to scale up. The company was recently selected for the Brisbane Economic Development Agency’s (BEDA) Future Food Global Accelerator, which will support the export of its products worldwide.
The state government also granted $2.27m to leading independent pet food manufacturer, Staughton Group, to build a Regional Demonstration Hub for inline chilling and freezing to transform regional food processing.
The project will deliver new technologies to upgrade chilling and freezing infrastructure for regional food processors and provide equipment and services to regional New South Wales abattoirs and food manufacturers. The release stated the new technologies will help make food manufacturing more sustainable and profitable.
Minister for Agriculture and Regional New South Wales, Tara Moriarty, said the Riverina has many opportunities in industry, agritourism and hospitality, and the state government is proud to support projects that will create jobs and boost local businesses.
“Investments that embed new technology into the Riverina’s local food processing businesses will bring productivity gains and expand production capacity, to ensure we can grow jobs and feed Australians and the world,” said Moriarty.
“Regional New South Wales has wonderful landscapes and people that can be supported with our Regional Development Trust investments to build their skills and agritourism attractions to attract Australian and international travellers.”
The remaining funds were allocated to Carrathool Shire Council to build an Arid Zone Botanic Garden in Hillston ($568,959), and to Wagga Wagga City Council to deliver an agritourism and hospitality program ($382,428).
Investments from the Regional Development Trust are reviewed by the Regional Development Advisory Council, an independent body appointed by the Minister for Regional NSW to provide advice to government on investments that must aim to meet the interests of regional communities. Further announcements on successful projects across the state from the Regional Development Trust will be made in the coming months.
