Check out what's happening in the Goulburn Valley:

Check out what’s happening in the Goulburn Valley: The GV leads the way on many fronts in regional Australia

LIFE’S good in the Goulburn Valley on the fresh produce, manufacturing, construction, heath care sector and logistics fronts.

Written by Geoff Adams, Shepparton Adviser managing editor

Three bumper agricultural seasons in a row have set up another boom year in the Goulburn Valley.

Whether it’s the production of millions of litres of milk from dairy farms in the Goulburn Valley each day, massive apple and pear crops being supplied across the nation and overseas, exporting advanced world-class irrigation systems to many parts of the world, or a myriad of businesses that feed off these industries, Shepparton and the wider Goulburn Valley is extremely well placed to boom during the next decade and beyond.

Evidence shows that 100s of local businesses are feeding from the bountiful food, manufacturing, and irrigation sectors, in fact all local businesses in one way, shape or form are enjoying spin-offs from these sectors.

Take McColl’s Transport, with operations in Shepparton and Tongala as an example, freighting a whopping two million litres of milk per day and planning to increase this to three million litres per day - and that’s just one trucking company in the Goulburn Valley. McColl’s Transport employs well over 100 staff and are upgrading their Shepparton site on the corner of Midland Highway and Doyles Road. Operations manager, Darren Young, told Our Goulburn Valley magazine that 90 percent of their Goulburn Valley milk cartage work is farm pick-up to local milk processors.

“Spending local is the company’s philosophy,” Darren said. McColl’s Transport is Tongala’s largest employer and is on the lookout for more drivers and mechanics.

Local major irrigation technology manufacturer, Rubicon Water, continues to deliver water-saving solutions worldwide. The manufacturer of large irrigation control gates at the Wheeler Street factory has now exceeded the installation of more than 35,000 gates throughout 17 countries! In northern Victoria, the gates are responsible for automating a network of more than 3,000kms of channels, helping make it one of the world’s most efficient irrigation systems. The company has played a significant role in achieving a 90 percent water delivery efficiency rate, with the Victorian Government this year announcing that the project in the north of the state had exceeded the annual water saving target.

One of Australia’s most recognised brands, SPC, (Shepparton Preserving Company) continues to drive a new culture of growth, acquiring the Kuisine Co brand for the healthcare market. “We are already strong in the aged care sectors through our fruit products. The scale and scope of Kuisine’s capabilities means that we can expand our offering to include frozen foods, finger foods and ready-made meals,” SPC CEO Rob Giles said.

The challenge for SPC and many Goulburn Valley companies is finding staff to fill positions. Increased demand for SPC product equates to employment opportunities and SPC currently has 60 positions to fill, Mr Giles told Our Goulburn Valley magazine. “At SPC we’re focused on ‘Better Food for the Future’.

Flavorite on the Midland Highway near Tatura encompasses 60,000 sqm (six hectares) under one roof. They opened their $20M highly productive tomato plant operation which is expected to deliver 4,000 tonnes of tasty produce. The glasshouse stands seven metres in height and uses world-leading technology to control every aspect of the growing environment.

One of the region’s longest standing food processors, Campbell’s Australasia, (part of the Arnott’s Group and formerly known as Campbell’s Soups), is celebrating a special milestone of 60 years in the Goulburn Valley. The maker of high-quality soups, stocks, broths and juices sourced from local and Australian food suppliers employs over 200 locals.

Did you know that the iconic 43-metre-tall Campbell’s Soups can is actually a water tank using and maintaining a constant potable water supply for factory use, with a capacity of 100,000 litres.

Locally founded and nationally recognised manufacturer of masks during the pandemic, Med-Con, who are based at Lemnos, continues to reinvest with four new ear loop mask machines with a $550,000 investment. Med-Con CEO, Grant McGrath said they were also shortly to receive new ultrasonic welding equipment for masks suitable for medical and food settings.

One of Shepparton’s most important local manufacturers, Pental Limited, continues to grow with new acquisitions, which complement their iconic locally produced and distributed brands such as White King, Country Life, Softly, Jiffy, and Huggie. Pental has been a big supporter of the Shepparton

Chamber of Commerce & Industry Business Excellence

Awards. As reported in The Adviser, publisher of Our Goulburn Valley magazine in June, site manager of Pental Limited, Shepparton, Carmine Conte said, “Over the last 12 months Pental has also been busy diversifying its market channels with the recent acquisition of Australia’s second largest corporate hamper business, “Hamper’s with Bite”, as well as entering the e-commerce channel with the acquisition of the BONDI Soap brand of organic personal care online products.”

Plunketts Orchards have seen growth in jobs and fruit production after a $12.2M capital upgrade at their Ardmona site. The large project has seen a new 12,000 sqm warehouse constructed to house a game-changing apple and pear packing facility. Plunkett Orchard’s general manager, Andrew Plunkett, said it has “doubled their output.”

More of these types of works are in the pipeline in the Goulburn Valley according to TSE Energy Solutions’ director/manager, Tyson Saunders. Tyson and his team worked on the Plunkett project and sees excellent opportunities in innovation and automation of industrial settings throughout the region.

Local engineering business, Maddison Wright Engineering has secured a large contractual job working on the $135M state-of-the-art passenger and freight terminal in Geelong’s Port of Corio Quay. The project is part of the Spirit of Tasmania’s move to Geelong.

With the help of Federal Government funding earlier this year, local artificial intelligence firm, Ripe Robotics of Ardmona is seeing their hard work come to fruition. Operating from McNab & Sons orchards, the dynamic team headed up by co-founders, Leopold Lucas and Hunter Jay, have designed an autonomous fruit picking robot, which uses datadriven technology to select and then pick fruits. They say the future of farming will see more robotics capable of selecting and collecting soft fruits, such as the stone fruits grown in the Goulburn Valley. One of the Goulburn Valley’s most dynamic producers of fine fruits is Freshmax. The company continues to strive for excellence in quality produce. Freshmax is one of the largest fresh produce marketing and distribution operations in the Southern Hemisphere. Brands such as Modi Apples™, Piqa® Boo® Pears and Honey Belle™ Pears are grown right here in the Goulburn Valley. Originally bred in Italy and named after the famed sculptor Amadeo Modigliani, Modi is a bright red apple with superb eating quality and long shelf-life capability. The four long-standing Goulburn Valley orchardists that make up Pomona Valley were previously Varapodio, Turnbull, Pickworth and Hall families. Prior to that, they were independently growing apple and pear categories and certain IP brands for Freshmax. They’ve now merged and formed Pomona Valley, with more than 500 hectares of orchards, water rights, additional land and two packing-house operations. “It’s probably in the top 10 of horticultural fruit-growing businesses in Australia,” orchardist Peter Hall said. Shepparton’s brand new state-of-the-art $50M cultural centre, the already iconic Shepparton Art Museum (SAM), has proved a huge success in its first year with a staggering 65,000+ visitors through its doors. With an estimated 100,000 visitors annually. Museum of Vehicle Evolution (MOVE) has also proved an enormous asset to Shepparton with several thousand people visiting the complex since officially opening in November 2021. MOVE is also home to the Furphy Museum. The 158-year-old Shepparton based business (Est. 1864) is part of Australian history on several fronts. J. Furphy & Sons manufactures world class products and services at their sprawling

Shepparton and New Dookie Road, Shepparton site and has operations at the wider Goulburn Albury and Geelong. The more Valley is extremely well than 100 employee business is headed up by Adam Furphy. placed to boom during The additional branch to the the next decade Furphy operations is Furphy Foundry which specialises in and beyond. the manufacturer of street and park furniture and open space structures, is headed up by Furphy descendant and cousin of Adam, Sam Furphy. The business operates at the neighbouring property in Drummond Road, Shepparton. A visit to the Furphy Museum is well worthwhile. Shepparton’s long standing tyre business, Central Tyre Service celebrates its 70th anniversary this year. The successful business, stating the obvious, has been built on customer service and is headed up by Rod Poliness and Timothy Webb. On the gastronomic front, there have been many businesses open in Shepparton in the last 12 months. Fryers Street, along with Wyndham and High Streets have seen the arrival of several exciting new eateries. The Goulburn Valley recently welcomed the opening of the all-new BMW/MINI showroom, one of only a handful constructed in the world to date. Shepparton BMW and Shepparton MINI Garage is located across the road from its former premises on Melbourne Road, South Shepparton. The successful business headed up by Aaron Brain, has won several national awards.

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