Page 13 - Food&Drink magazine Feb-Mar 2023

in the end, all that knowledge, capability, innovation, thought, and problem solving coming back to you way quicker than if you were trying to do it alone.
“I would argue that when you talk about regions and regional development with companies that have regional origins, if they have maintained their culture and their history, they tend to be more communal and more collaborative because they have had to do a lot of things
for themselves.”
STABILITY AND SKILLS
SPC is based in Shepparton, Victoria, in a region known as the Goulburn Valley. It has been there for more than 100 years and three and a half years ago returned to private ownership.
The company has an integral connection to the farmers that supply fruit and tomatoes to the canning business, weathering the climactic disasters with them, and being their voice in the corridors of government
where they might otherwise be drowned out.
The farms and produce are obviously critical to operations, but there is more to SPC and that’s where CEO Robert Giles talks plainly.
“We need people. Supporting regional food manufacturers means bringing back the processing skills that have moved offshore in the last decade or more,” he says.
“We saw in the pandemic that we needed companies that could produce processed foods. You only have to think of what’s happening with the recent flooding; people running to get canned fruit, baked beans, and tomatoes because fresh food gets cut off first, and then the frozen. Shelf stable products are the last ones standing and we need it to be available.”
With Bega’s population around 5500, Irvin says having a scaled business is valuable.
“The issue for me, as someone who grew up in the region, was
“ You see, in the end, all that knowledge, capability, innovation, thought, and problem solving coming back to you way quicker than if you were trying to do it alone.”
ABOVE: Apricots on the SPC canning line. Some farmers only grow fruit for SPC.
OPPOSITE: Bega chair Barry Irvin on the official announcement of absorbing Lion Dairy & Drinks into the business. Scaled businesses in small towns bring great benefits, he says.
REGIONAL FOCUS
www.foodanddrinkbusiness.com.au | February/March 2023 | Food&Drink business | 13