Page 18 - Food&Drink Business Magazine July-August 2020

BAKERY BUSINESS
ADAPTING to a COVID-19 world has seen many businesses shift production capabilities and find ways to contribute in the fight against the virus.
For family-owned agribusiness Manildra Group, the pandemic has meant expansion. Its ethanol production alone has grown by 90 million litres for the pharmaceutical and beverage industries. But first and foremost, as one of Australia’s largest flour millers, Manildra’s flour production has ramped up an additional 50 million kilograms of flour.
“Manildra Group has been in the flour milling industry since 1952 and we’ve never experienced such an unprecedented level of demand,” says managing director John Honan.
“We’ve been operating our flour mills around the clock to meet the substantial demand and since the coronavirus pandemic, we have increased our retail flour production by more than fifty per cent.”
The group was established by the Honan family, which has successfully diversified its agribusiness over recent decades, as well as ranking #20 in the Food & Drink Business Top 100 Food and Drink Companies 2019 report.
The company’s flagship, Manildra Flour Mills, is located in central west New South Wales, which is expected to expand its flour production capacity. As one of Manildra’s four NSW-based flour mills, it will supply 100 per cent Australian flours and bakery premixes for major retailers, restaurants, bakeries and food manufacturers.
Honan says the expansion is to “do everything we can” to ensure flour is available throughout the supply chain and at local supermarkets.
“We’re proud to be able to assist the nation during this crisis – working with
ABOVE: Manildra Group’s seven column ethanol distillery located in the South Coast town of Nowra, NSW.
LEFT: Aerial view of Manildra Group’s Shoalhaven Starches manufacturing plant located in the South Coast town of Nowra, NSW.
More than flour power
Family-owned Manildra Group is doing “everything we can” to help meet the demands of both flour and ethanol production during the current COVID-19 pandemic. Doris Prodanovic reports.
18 | Food&Drink business | July/August 2020 | www.foodanddrinkbusiness.com.au