Fresh Funding To Grow WA Food And Beverage Businesses

• WA businesses to share in more than $7 million in Value Add Investment Grants
• Initiatives helping agrifood and beverage businesses across the State to scale up
• Cook Government driving economic growth and creating jobs

The Cook Government is helping WA food and beverage businesses across the State to cultivate success through $7.08 million in Value Add Investment Grants.

Eight Western Australian businesses have benefited from the latest round of funding, which will support expansion, new product lines and more staff.

The Bidyadanga Aboriginal Community, south of Broome, will use its $1 million grant to install four blast cool rooms to extend the shelf life and freshness of its watermelons, paving the way to increase production by 400 per cent. The investment will also help the business move into rockmelon production, creating 15 new jobs.

The Ord River District Co-operative (ORDCO), near Kununurra, will use a $750,000 grant to upgrade its stockfeed plant to grow the business, as the Kimberley Cotton Company's gin comes online this year.

The project will help ORDCO to expand its offerings of blended grain rations and increase the plant's production to 25,000 tonnes per year. This will build resilience in the northern cattle industry, as well as create 4 new jobs and opportunities for local businesses during the construction phase.

AAA Egg Company, west of Gingin, will invest its $1 million grant in state-of-the-art machinery to diversify into value-added products, including egg whites and yolks, as well as scrambled and hard-boiled eggs for the food service, catering and manufacturing industry.

These grants have spearheaded projects that might not otherwise have been possible, leveraging a further $262 million in private sector investment and generating an estimated 191 new jobs across the State.

For more information on Value Add Investment Grants and a full list of recipients, visit https://www.agric.wa.gov.au/industry-development/value-add-investment-grants .

As stated by Agriculture and Food Minister Jackie Jarvis:

"I am so proud of the Value Add Investment Grants program and the opportunities it is creating to help grow WA's agrifood and beverage manufacturing industry.

"This program is kickstarting projects and leveraging substantial co-investment in initiatives that drive expansion, diversification and resilience for a range of businesses throughout the State, as well as creating a number of new local jobs and driving economic growth."

Value Add Investment Grant Round 3 recipients