The establishment of a dedicated food group in Melbourne’s North will support local approaches to strengthen food and beverage manufacturing, create jobs, drive investment and boost exports.
As part of this exciting initiative, industry organisation NORTH Link will work with local councils, Melbourne Market Authority, the Melbourne Innovation Centre, leading educational institutes and the Victorian Government’s Food Investment Team to support the growth of more than 400 local businesses.
And in a further boost to the credentials of the food industry in Melbourne’s North, iconic smallgoods manufacturers D’Orsogna and Bertocchi recently announced significant expansions.
While D’Orsogna is establishing a greenfield manufacturing presence at the Merrifield Business Park in Mickleham, Bertocchi is upgrading its Thomastown facility and building a new plant in Melton.
Both projects will result in the creation of hundreds of jobs in premium foods processing and follow on from other recent expansions by confectionery, specialty coffee, dairy and bakery companies.
Food processing companies choose Victoria for its competitive operating environment, reputation in foods, access to key transport infrastructure and rapidly growing local and export markets.
For more information about the food and fibre industry and why companies choose to invest in Victoria, visit the Department of Jobs, Precincts & Regions and Invest Victoria.
The food and fibre sector is Victoria’s biggest goods export sector, with Melbourne’s North alone set to double its output to $5 billion and create 7,000 jobs in the sector in the next ten years.