Australia’s first purpose-built, end-to-end collaborative food and beverage manufacturing precinct on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast will provide a blueprint for the industry nationally, its supporters say.
The Turbine Precinct, a collaborative project led by the Food and Agribusiness Network (FAN), has been a work-in-progress for five years to position the Sunshine Coast as a centre to support food and beverage businesses to scale.
FAN CEO Emma Greenhatch said the project’s vision was to create a blueprint for the sector “where industry, research, government and education and training providers collectively unlock growth and drive innovation”.
The project has been bolstered by receiving $8.7 million in the latest round of the Modern Manufacturing Initiative grants.
Greenhatch told Food & Drink Business the grant marks a major turning point in the project. “This has been years in the making. The federal funding is recognition and confirmation of what everyone we have talked to has said, that the concept just makes sense.
“It makes sense to share manufacturing services and infrastructure that the industry doesn’t compete on. To collocate, share those costs and then be able to use all that money you have saved into R&D, or developing your brand, or understanding your customer, or expanding into new markets is a much better way of doing business,” she said.
Beverage manufacturing operations are expected to begin in 2023, with advanced food manufacturing capabilities coming online in 2024.
“When you look at government investment in projects like this, it is benefiting dozens of businesses. Eighty-seven per cent of our food and beverage sector are SMEs, we have to be smarter in how we reduce the cost and remove the barriers that hold them back from scaling up,” Greenhatch said.
Queensland Drinks Accelerator (QDA) founder Simon Michelangeli said the Turbine Precinct will have significant impact for the region’s beverage businesses.
“Our export-ready facility will work with co-located beverage businesses and a range of contract customers – from Queensland start-ups to global beverage brands.
“Collaboration between a broad range of like-minded partners will create an end-to-end innovation ecosystem that will enable us to develop and commercialise new products and help high growth potential businesses to scale to achieve national distribution and open up export markets,” Michelangeli said.
Joint use around common-use infrastructure and manufacturing services, a research and development facility, warehousing and logistics, an expertise hub and an industry-embedded training centre are core components of the precinct.
Federal Member for Fairfax Ted O’Brien said the additional funding would provide a dramatic boost for the beverage manufacturing sector on the Sunshine Coast and bring international attention to its capabilities. “This federal funding directly supports the development of the Turbine Precinct’s common use capabilities.
“This means that local start-ups will have access to the equipment and resources required to go to market and the advanced infrastructure and networks to scale globally,” O’Brien said.
The Turbine will be located at the Sunshine Coast Airport to facilitate easy access to local and international markets, particularly into South-East Asia.
Sunshine Coast Airport CEO Andrew Brodie said the precinct’s creation was consistent with the airport’s Master Plan 2040.
“The opportunity to have Australia’s first purpose-built food and manufacturing facility located at our airport will directly benefit our community through the jobs and business growth it creates,” Brodie said.
Greenhatch said: “Over the past six years FAN has created a unique, collaborative ecosystem to support the growth of the food and agribusiness industry in the greater Sunshine Coast region. Turbine will take this to the next level, providing advanced manufacturing capability, critical services and education and training to turbocharge industry growth.”
Key stakeholders include the University of the Sunshine Coast, Sunshine Coast Council, Regional Development Australia Sunshine Coast, Sunshine Coast Business Council and Food Innovation Australia Ltd.
“This is an entirely new way of doing business we have been building in the region. We have 350 members across the value chain who are already work together, understanding where they can cooperate and not compete. Now, putting the physical infrastructure in place, then hopefully they can fly,” Greenhatch said.
Greenhatch is also talking to other industry groups interested in the cluster model and how it could apply to other sectors.
