Solar panel milestone for Suntory Oceania Ipswich build

Suntory Oceania’s $400 million carbon neutral manufacturing and distribution facility in Ipswich, Queensland is a step closer to completion with the installation underway of 7000 solar panels (14 kilometres end to end).

Suntory Oceania, the $3 billion multi-beverage partnership between Suntory Global Spirits and Suntory Beverage & Food, is 18 months into the build, with V Energy earmarked to be the first beverage off the line later this year.

Suntory Beverage & Food Oceania chief supply chain officer, Ian Roberts, said as well as being the largest single FMCG investment in Australian in more than a decade, it showed the confidence Suntory has in the local market.

“Our carbon neutral ‘smart’ facility – powered by a combination of solar, biomass and green energy – will give Suntory unrivalled ability to innovate, respond to customer demand, and deliver beverages that are made locally and sustainably.

“Led by our ‘Growing For Good’ philosophy, Suntory has taken every opportunity to use leading technology and set new standards for sustainable manufacturing in Australia,” Roberts said.

Sustainability features include:

• 

  7000 solar panels will power the production of more than 20 million cases of beverages a year on commencement;
• A purchase power agreement with Queensland-based CleanCo;
• a biomass boiler that will use offcuts from the local sawmill as fuel to generate heat for the sites manufacturing heating requirements;
• an organic Rankine cycle generator – a unique technology to capture waste heat and turn it into green energy to put back into the grid; and
• 35,000 pallets (+2.5 million cases) can be stored at the 30 metres high, fully automated, lights out, state-of-the-art distribution warehouse, with capacity to increase down the line.

Suntory’s non-alcoholic and alcoholic products will be manufactured onsite including the entire V Energy drink range and Australia’s leading RTDs including Suntory -196, Canadian Club & Dry, and Jim Beam White Label Bourbon & Cola.

Working alongside production sites in New Zealand, North America, Europe, and Japan, more than 40 market leading alcohol and non-alcohol brands will be distributed from the site.

The company said that to date, the Ipswich facility has delivered approximately 450 construction and installation jobs, and once operational will support 160 long-term local roles.

The business is now recruiting a further 130 roles to support the new Australian Alcohol Licensed Route to Market function – a new sales team responsible for bringing Suntory’s iconic alcohol portfolio to market from mid-2025.

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