MOOROOPNA’S Geoffrey Thompson Holdings, one of Australia’s largest apple and pear growers, will be revamped thanks to a government grant.
The site will be repurposed and refit to build a state-of-the-art fruit packing and grading factory, which includes installing new sorting, grading and packing equipment.
Fruit grown in the Goulburn Valley and processed at the factory will be sold locally and used for purees and juices. Stock will also be exported to international markets.
Parliamentary Secretary for Regional Victoria Danielle Green toured the Geoffrey Thompson Holdings fruit packing and selling warehouse on Monday and touted the benefits of in investing in regional manufacturing powerhouses such as Geoffrey Thompson Holdings.
“Investing in regional cities is a crucial step in Victoria’s growth path. As more people start to realise the immense benefits of living in regional areas, the creation of new jobs to support the growing population is vital,” said Ms Green.
“We are committed to investing in the future of our agricultural sector to boost both our own local food supply and to continue to export our world-class produce to the rest of the world.”
The project will create up to 44 new full-time jobs and lead to $46M worth of new Victorian fruit exports by its fifth year of operation. This redevelopment is expected to halve post-harvest costs for fresh and processed fruit in Australia and will directly benefit more than 50 growers in the Goulburn Valley region.
