Manufacturing | case study
DEVELOPING A HEALTHY APPETITE FOR GROWTH
True Foods is a 100% Australian-owned and operated family business established in 2001 as a specialist manufacturer of flat bread products. From humble beginnings, they’ve grown to become the largest Australian-owned manufacturer of tortilla wraps, naan and roti breads. In late 2011, they purchased a major production facility in Maryborough / Central Goldfields Shire. The 27 acre site has 3 acres under roof, and has facilitated enormous growth in their production capabilities and their workforce employing almost 270 people.
With environmental sustainability being a core value of the business, True Foods recently invested in their own onsite solar farm and communicated this initiative on their Simson’s Pantry products with a ‘100% powered-by-solar’ logo. Future plans include biogas generation to use waste steam to fire their ovens, as well as cooling technology to reduce energy consumption by up to 60%.
True Foods have a strong focus on R&D and actively encourage their team to push the limits to find out what might be possible. Innovation is a driving force, and True Foods are proud of the many successful products they produce for a broad range of customers across retail, foodservice and QSR channels both domestically and internationally. With a healthy appetite for growth, they continue to invest in new capabilities and capacity to bring innovative new products to market.
Loyal and local freight providers
“Our freight partners will move heaven and earth to ensure we and our clients are serviced correctly.”
Active support from local and state governments
And close linkages and support with other manufacturing businesses in town.
Proactively driving change for a better future
True Foods appreciates the important role it has to play as part of a smaller regional community.
Why Loddon Mallee?
WIDE OPEN SPACE IS KEY TO DEVELOPMENT
With plans to grow their operation through joint ventures and other synergistic business acquisitions, True Foods needed a place that could accommodate their expansion, and Maryborough provided the perfect opportunity.
“We were looking for significantly more space to house our growing manufacturing operation, having outgrown multiple facilities in Metro Melbourne,” says Mark Thurlow.. “The ability to purchase a facility with more than enough land to enable ongoing expansion allowed us to future-proof our business – we were no longer landlocked, and we no longer had to deal with the congestion of a busy city.”
“Integration into the community is critical to ongoing success in a region. Quickly identify where you can make a positive difference, and rally around that. Once you are seen as a positive for the area, all sorts of support gets unlocked, and you can become an employer of choice, attracting the key people needed to make a startup or relocated business an ultimate success.”
“Environmental sustainability credentials are becoming a must have if you want to attract and retain good staff. The higher tech we go with our capital investments onsite, the higher the skills required for our operators to manage and operate equipment becomes. This creates great opportunities for staff looking at upskilling, and creates new roles for higher skilled operators looking at moving to the regions.”
– Mark Thurlow, Managing Director
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