Page 32 - Food&Drink Business magazine June 2022

BAKERY BUSINESS
Milling move for George Weston
George Weston Foods is relocating its Melbourne- based Mauri flour mill to Ballarat. Kim Berry writes.
GEORGE Weston Foods is investing almost $133 million to build a new flour mill in Ballarat. It is the latest in a number of investments, relocations and upgrades undertaken by the bakery giant.
George Weston Foods CEO Stuart Grainger said it is an exciting time for the company and the future of sustainable agriculture and food production in Victoria.
Grainger said the company’s goal is for the new mill to be the most environmentally sustainable in the southern hemisphere.
He told the ABC, “The mill itself is going to be absolutely state-of-the-art in terms of very low power usage with ultra- efficient processing.
“It will have a footprint that will be significantly better than anything else of its type. There won’t be any waste. Anything that’s not used for human food will go to animal feed.”
Grainger said the ingredients sourced to make the company’s bread and baked goods were almost exclusively from Victorian farms.
“This new flour mill, together with other investments, enables us to continue to grow our Tip Top, Abbotts, Don and Yumi’s brands whilst also being better able to serve the needs of our Mauri customers,” Grainger said.
Other updates and investments by the company include building a new national Tip Top boutique bakery in Bendigo, relocating its Golden Crumpet manufacturing line from Adelaide to Dandenong, upgrading its Don KRC business in Castlemaine to grow exports, and expanding its Yumi’s plant in Hallam to increase production.
The new Mauri flour mill in Ballarat will create around 220 jobs, including the transfer of 46 jobs from its existing mill in Melbourne.
More than 1300 Victorian businesses and farmers supply and work with George Weston Foods, while the company employs around 3000 people across eight sites in Victoria.
Victorian regional development minister Mary- Anne Thomas said George Weston was one of the the
largest private sector employers in the state, with half of its workforce employed in regional Victoria.
The company’s move is the latest in a number of food and beverage companies relocating to the region. Mars Wrigley, McCains, Luv-a-Duck, Kookas Country Cookies, Grounded Pleasures, and Ferndale are some of the other Ballarat based businesses.
State member for Wendouree Juliana Addison said, “The development of this flour mill cements Ballarat’s reputation as a manufacturing hub and brings highly skilled jobs to the region.”
Thomas said the Ballarat West Employment Zone was vital to the growth of manufacturing jobs in Ballarat that were “jobs that can sustain generations of workers and benefits that flow right across the region”.
Thomas said Victoria has the largest and most established food and beverage manufacturing sector in the nation, valued at around $38 billion and employing around 72,000people. ✷
ABOVE: George Weston Foods aims to make the new mill the most environmentally sustainable in the southern hemisphere.
32 | Food&Drink business | June 2022 | www.foodanddrinkbusiness.com.au