WA grants help grow local food and drink businesses

Chicken and egg processors, a small goods manufacturer, and wine producer are some of the eight food and beverage companies to receive a share of $7 million in the latest round of the state’s Value Add Investment Grants program.

The Bidyadanga Aboriginal Community, south of Broome, will use its $1 million grant to install four blast cool rooms to extend the shelf life and freshness of its watermelons, paving the way to increase production by 400 per cent. The investment will also help the business move into rockmelon production, creating 15 new jobs.

The Ord River District Co-operative (ORDCO), near Kununurra, will use a $750,000 grant to upgrade its stockfeed plant to grow the business, as the Kimberley Cotton Company's gin comes online this year. The project will help ORDCO to expand its offerings of blended grain rations and increase the plant's production to 25,000 tonnes per year. This will build resilience in the northern cattle industry, as well as create 4 new jobs and opportunities for local businesses during the construction phase.

AAA Egg Company, west of Gingin, will invest the $1 million grant in state-of-the-art machinery to diversify into value-added products, including egg whites and yolks, as well as scrambled and hard-boiled eggs for the food service, catering and manufacturing industry.

Chicken processor, Mt Barker Chickens, also received a $1 million grant. Matched by its owners, Milne AgriGroup, Mt Barker Chicken will purchase processing equipment and expand capacity by 30 per cent, while improving water, energy and emissions efficiencies. New state-of-the-art chillers will extend the shelf-life of products by more than 20 per cent, enabling the company to target markets in the eastern states and high-value export markets, including Singapore and Hong Kong.

The expansion will create 20 new jobs at Mt Barker Chicken’s Kendenup and Rockingham facilities, and will enable the company to supply the fast-food restaurant trade with high-welfare, high-quality product.

Agriculture and Food Minister Jackie Jarvis said the Value Add grants have spearheaded projects that might not otherwise have been possible, leveraging a further $262 million in private sector investment and generating an estimated 191 new jobs across the state.

“I am so proud of the Value Add Investment Grants program and the opportunities it is creating to help grow WA’s agrifood and beverage manufacturing industry.

"This program is kickstarting projects and leveraging substantial co-investment in initiatives that drive expansion, diversification and resilience for a range of businesses throughout the State, as well as creating a number of new local jobs and driving economic growth.”

For more information on the grants, click here.