THE AUSTRALIAN Food and Grocery Council Forum held in Shepparton on September 3 proved to be a resounding success for organisers with the Committee for Greater Shepparton (C4GS) welcoming 130 attendees to the inaugural event.

Highlighting significant investment in food and grocery manufacturing in the region, C4GS CEO Linda Nieuwenhuizen said the forum generated a real buzz, with attendees excited about where they live and work.

“Our local food and grocery sector generates more than $3.1 billion for the local economy,” she said.

“It employs more than 4,100 local people and injects more than $340 million of wages into local communities.”

Representing the largest manufacturing sector of Greater Shepparton (which includes Moira, Shepparton and Campaspe), food and grocery accounts for 66.5 per cent of total manufacturing jobs in the region.

“On Tuesday night at the forum, we had a single goal of shining a spotlight on the region as a food and grocery manufacturing powerhouse by hosting the CEO of the Australian Food and Grocery Council and hearing from people who are shaping the future of the local sector,” Ms Nieuwenhuizen said.

“Based on what we heard there’s an estimated billion dollars of investment either planned or underway in the region, across processing, intensive dairy, high-tech glasshouses and high value irrigated agriculture.

“And this is because Greater Shepparton ticks all the boxes.

“We’ve always known we’ve got great climate and great soil, but what came out on the night was just how important the location of Greater Shepparton is with that connectivity to port, along with the quality of our workforces, that real depth of experience in the key industries and the scale of our trades and services sectors.”

With local businesses, agencies and community groups in attendance alongside the Australian Food and Grocery Council, the C4GS also invited other significant stakeholders with representatives from Invest Victoria, Port of Melbourne and Australian Gas Infrastructure Group present at the forum.

“Many of the participants talked about how they had been evaluating investment sites up and down the east coast of Australia – or even right across the country – and they are landing here,” Ms Nieuwenhuizen said.

“The region is one of the most important intersections in south-east Australia - and that is for multiple industries who are producing at scale.”

Ms Nieuwenhuizen used Noumi and Noumi Nutritionals as an example, with the Australian-owned premium dairy, milk and proteins facility based in Greater Shepparton.

Over the last five years, the facility has undergone a $300 million investment.

“Noumi knows that by basing themselves here, they are anchored in a really reliable dairy region and can move their product easily to all of the liquid milk markets across Australia, and also through the Port of Melbourne for export,” she said.

Building on dairy in the region, one of the panelists at the forum discussed how they were lifting productivity by at least 30 per cent at their intensive dairy enterprise, delivering a reliable supply at volume.

“This is great for our dairy processors who are looking for this consistency to support their investments,” Ms Nieuwenhuizen said, citing the product dominance of dairy across the region.

Another exciting investment within the region at Tongala is the construction of high-tech glasshouses with a footprint the equivalent size of ten Melbourne Cricket Grounds.

Creating around 150 to 200 new jobs, the enterprise will concentrate initially on tomatoes with varieties chosen predominantly for flavour.

Looking to manufacturing and processing within the region, on discussion were local initiatives transforming production to be more sustainable and guarantee future energy security.

“When you’re a manufacturer, a reliable gas and electricity supply is essential, so conversation did focus on the cost and supply of energy in terms of both competitiveness and just more basically, operations,” she said.

“Water also came up a lot and the general consensus from our primary producers was they would be securing their water.

“Taking into account these cost pressures along with the importance of a strong and available workforce and resilient supply chain, the question was posed as to what does this mean for domestic and also global competitiveness?

“The forum addressed not just the positives but also the challenges, and how we as a region can work together to secure the future prosperity of all our producers and local businesses.”

Looking to the map, in an area that stretches from Shepparton to Cobram, Stanhope and Echuca, there are over 50 different manufacturers located within the footprint.

“Some of these manufacturers are the most trusted brands on the shelf in the supermarket,” said Ms Nieuwenhuizen.

“Considering this as an aggregate, what stands out is that we aren’t one single industry.

“Dairy may account for over 50 per cent of our food manufacturing, but even within dairy you have such a variety of products made from that core ingredient.

“And within the region, we also have large scale abattoirs and fruit and increasingly more vegetables, so that fruit and vegetable processing now accounts for 22 per cent of the sector in the region.”

However Ms Nieuwenhuizen was quick to point out that the sector does not operate in isolation, with equipment and infrastructure also developed and manufactured locally creating a circular economy.

“The steel tanks in use at Noumi were manufactured by a local company, literally down the road,” she said.

“Close to a quarter of all Victoria’s heavy vehicles are registered in Shepparton, so having that immediate access to freight allowing our producers to get their product onto supermarket shelves is so important.

“The success of the entire supply chain is vital to the success of the region overall, and it’s the real variety of industry that we have locally which really adds to our strength.

"Greater Shepparton’s produces about 25 per cent of Victoria’s agricultural output, but the region’s impact goes beyond producing fresh local produce.

“It’s about transforming products from farm to supermarket shelf through manufacturing.

“This is now the lifeblood of the region’s economy and employment.

“So we’re not just Australia’s food bowl, we’re also the pantry and the freezer and the fridge as well,” she said.