The Food Technology Facility is situated within the Food and Beverage Production Centre in FIPWA, located in the Peel Business Park within the Shire of Murray.
This was a key election commitment, with $12.2 million of funding from DPIRD supporting a five-year Future Food Systems CRC project, delivered by Murdoch University. The five-year feasibility study will delve into the commercial viability of a WA-based advanced food manufacturing pilot plant, designed to activate food processing innovation, and grow value add food production in WA.
The Food Technology Facility will assist primary producers and food and beverage businesses to develop, test and produce new and improved products using innovative advanced manufacturing technologies and processes. This will allow businesses to test innovations at commercial batch scale, confirm market demand and source buyers prior to investing in new, large scale commercial production lines themselves.
DPIRD’s support will enable the project to acquire equipment for fit out and operation of 1,000 sqm of space and will contain a range of advanced food manufacturing equipment. The Food Technology Facility will operate as common user infrastructure, ensuring access by industry and researchers across a range of agrifood commercial R&D projects and activities.
Currently, local craft brewery Spinifex Brewery is situated in the Food and Beverage Production Centre. Launching in 2019, Spinifex produce unique beverages infused with native Indigenous botanicals.
Officially opened
A new state-of-the-art Food Innovation Precinct Western Australia – known as ‘Mereny Bidi Boodja’ in the local Noongar language - officially opened its doors on 24 February 2023 by the The Hon. Jackie Jarvis MLC, Minister for Agriculture and Food; Forestry; Small Business.
Enterprise Support Program
Western Australian businesses accessing the services of the Food Innovation Precinct have the opportunity to apply for funding support through an Enterprise Support Program (ESP), a $3.85M competitive grant program, set up in partnership between the Shire of Murray, DevelopmentWA and the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD), which contributed $2.5M.
More information
To find out more, visit the Food Innovation Precinct Western Australia website.