Page 44 - Food&Drink Magazine Jan-Feb 2019

SUPPLIER SPOTLIGHT
✷ POWER COUPLE
FOUNDERS SCOOP
BUSINESS AWARD
The Australian co-founders of food processing and packaging equipment manufacturer tna have won an Ethnic Business Award.
Alf and Nadia Taylor won the award, which recognises and reward the contribution of migrants to the Australian economy, in the Medium to Large Business category.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison presented them with the award at the 30th Ethnic Business Awards gala dinner, where the couple was commended for their entrepreneurship, personal dedication, global economic success and their contribution to not only the Australian economy, but also the community through their extensive philanthropic work.
“We’re truly honoured to have won such a prestigious award,” tna director and co-founder Nadia Taylor says. “When we first arrived in Australia, neither of us would have ever imagined that we would eventually turn our dream of owning our own business into a reality.
“We feel incredibly lucky to be one of Australia’s many migrant success stories and are truly grateful for the opportunities this country has offered us. There are so many phenomenal and innovative businesses out there that would have never been possible without the sheer dedication and determination of people from all parts of the world.”
tna was founded in 1982 by Alf and Nadia Taylor.
ABOVE: MD Alf Taylor, tna director and co-founder Nadia Taylor, and Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
The official ribbon cutting with the member for Bayswater district, Heidi Victoria (left), and managing director and co-founder Alf Taylor, and director and co-founder Nadia Taylor.
tna opens new $8m facility
Packaging solutions manufacturer tna has unveiled a brand new factory in Victoria that will boost its manufacturing capacity and global reach. Wayne Robinson reports.
PACKAGING solutions manufacturer tna has cut the ribbon on its new 7500 square metre factory in Boronia, Victoria, bringing the number of tna manufacturing facilities around the world to six.
The new factory, built for almost $8 million, is two and a half times the size of the previous facility, and is the latest of four tna plants around the world to be either significantly upgraded or built in the last 12 months, the others being in Dubai, Holland, and Mexico. In addition to tna’s six manufacturing facilities, it has 16 sales offices, including in Moscow and Tokyo.
The company started by Alf Taylor and his wife Nadia in 1982 initially had one 225 sq metre facility. It is today one of the big success stories of Australian manufacturing, with some 95 per cent of equipment produced in Melbourne exported.
Alf Taylor said that the business is aiming to achieve sales of more than $1bn in five years’ time.
The past year has seen tna achieve growth of 70 per cent, this on top of an average compound growth of 27 per cent over the 37 years since the business started. Alf Taylor says, “Growth will come from geographic expansion, product expansion, applications expansion, and to a small degree from acquisitions.
“The big brands are global, and they want global packaging and processing solutions, in order to have the same result in every territory they operate. This is a key part of the tna advantage, and will drive growth.
“In addition, the rapid growth of the middle class in Asia and the Middle East is driving demand for packaged products. Then the demand for smaller pack sizes is a rapidly
developing trend around the world, which means more packs, which is all good news for tna, and will propel the growth.”
The more than $1bn sales target is four or five times the current turnover, with Taylor saying that the company’s manufacturing capabilities and the market trends mean tna is on track to achieve the ambitious target.
Opening the plant with Alf and Nadia Taylor was local MP Heidi Victoria who paid tribute to the couple saying, “tna is a great Australian story of vision, intelligence, commitment. It is a significant local employer, and earns overseas revenue for the country.”
The company has 600 employees around the world, a third of them in Australia in the Melbourne manufacturing site and head office in Sydney, which includes an R&D department where two dozen staff work on developing new solutions. ✷
44 | Food&Drink business | January-February 2019 | www.foodanddrinkbusiness.com.au