Food innovations 2020

Mars Wrigley boosts local chocolate factory

Mars Wrigley Australia has bolstered its local manufacturing capability with a $300,000 investment, to bring new technologies to its chocolate factory in Ballarat, Victoria. The investment will enable Mars Wrigley to produce M&M’s Pretzel locally, bringing the treat to Australia for the first time. The investment also expands the capability for the Ballarat facility to create filled M&M’s and explore more Australianmade innovations for M&M’s.

The Ballarat factory currently has the capacity to produce over five billion M&M’s per year, with M&M’s Pretzel the latest addition to its local production line. The equipment upgrade is part of a broader $37 million investment Mars Wrigley Australia has committed to in 2020, enabling the manufacturer to continue to upgrade the factory to futureproof and advance its local manufacturing capability.

The investment follows the Ballarat factory’s 40th anniversary, which it celebrated in November 2019, and builds on the $14 million invested into the factory to maintain and upgrade its operations in 2018.

Andrew Leakey, General Manager of Mars Wrigley Australia, stated that the company is dedicated to continuing to support Australia’s manufacturing sector. “This latest project is part of our long-term ambition to continue to drive and develop our core bitesize brands that we manufacture locally in Ballarat.”

The Ballarat factory employs more than 350 associates and produces a range of chocolate brands, including Maltesers, Milky Way, M&M’s, Mars, Pods and now M&M’s Pretzel.

Food innovations 2020

From roasted pulse snacks and pickled bamboos shoots, through to medicinal mushroom lagers and organic fermented foods. These are just some of the trailblazing innovations driving the recovery and growth of the food and agribusiness industry.

As the Food and Agribusiness Growth Centre, Food Innovation Australia Limited (FIAL) recognises the critical role innovation will play in seeing industry unlock its potential.

In celebration of Australia’s renowned ingenuity, FIAL has published the fifth edition of its Celebrating Australian Food and Agribusiness

Innovations.

The growing case for industry collaboration

While this is the fifth year that FIAL has been profiling Australian food and agribusiness innovations, this edition of Celebrating Australian Food and Agribusiness Innovations is the first of its kind. The over 45 featured innovations all have one thing in common — the businesses behind them all belong to clusters.

Clusters — geographically proximate groups of interconnected companies that benefit from being able to tap into a local ecosystem of knowledge and relationships — are a growing force in Australia’s food and agribusiness industry.

With approximately 180,000 businesses, largely SMEs, scattered across a very large geographical area, the case is growing that clustering is essential for building the capability, capacity and confidence necessary for businesses to innovate and get the economies of scale to compete on the world stage.

FIAL has been a key driver behind food and agribusiness clustering in Australia. Through its Cluster Programme, up to $300,000 of matched funding was provided to four of the clusters included in Celebrating Australian Food and Agribusiness Innovations.

“FIAL is proud to highlight the incredible work Australia’s clusters are doing to support our industry. It has never been more important than today to innovate and back our clusters in helping our businesses, regions and cities grow towards positive futures,” said Dr Mirjana Prica, FIAL Managing Director.

Published by WF Media, Celebrating Australian Food and Agribusiness Innovations features innovations from across the value chain from over 45 Australian businesses. To download a digital copy, visit https://fial.com.au/celebrating-innovations-book.