Sunshine Coast food and beverage hub gets $33m funding boost

The federal government is committing $33.4 million to develop Australia’s first food and beverage manufacturing precinct at Sunshine Coast Airport, which will be home to local companies.

The Turbine Collaborative Food & Beverage Manufacturing Precinct will bring together beverage company Lyre’s Spirit Co, the Queensland Drinks Accelerator and ingredients company Doehler Australia, with the Food and Agribusiness Network and University of the Sunshine Coast.

Once complete, the site will enable the manufacturers and organisations to utilise shared warehousing and logistics, an education and training centre, as well as a collaborative high-tech manufacturing facility.

The federal government said that by having all facilities under one roof, it will help drive the competitiveness of local companies by collaborating together and building further capability.

Minister Taylor said the Sunshine Coast is home to incredibly innovative manufacturers especially when it comes to amazing food and beverage products.

“Food and beverage manufacturing is the largest manufacturing sector for the Australian economy. One in four people employed in manufacturing are employed in our food and beverage sector and it contributes $27.5 billion to our economy,” Minister Taylor said.

“This funding will support some of the most innovative producers leverage technology to increase their production, while meeting growing export demand and creating new local jobs across the region and beyond through this world-class airport precinct,” he said.

He continued that not only does it remove barriers to businesses getting started, it will also help companies build their capabilities together and drive growth in the food and beverage sector on a scale not yet seen in Australia.

Once fully operational, the precinct is set to be Australia’s leading industry-based food and beverage research and commercialisation facility.

Federal Member for Fairfax, Ted O’Brien said this funding boost will not only enable the project to get off the ground but become a catalyst for further industry investment into the world-first precinct.

“This massive investment will transform the local food and beverage sector and will create a stronger future for the Sunshine Coast – built on a stronger economy,” O’Brien said.

“This end-to-end collaborative food and beverage precinct is a world-first and it will provide lucrative opportunities for businesses at all stages and all sizes to build, scale and export, all under one roof,” he said.

He also emphasised that it’s not just business that benefits, as the precinct will create lifelong careers for locals.

“From food technologists to designers and engineers, the Turbine Precinct will create hundreds of highly-skilled careers for locals within an industry where the Sunshine Coast will be among the best in the world,” he said.

The project is expected to create 131 new jobs during construction and support 687 once operational, with $200 million in economic benefits.

The funding boost for the Turbine Collaborative Food & Beverage Manufacturing Precinct is part of the federal government’s $1.3 billion Modern Manufacturing Initiative.