Toowoomba to be food value-adding hub

TSBE chief executive officer Dr Ben Lyons has welcomed the announcement of a $35 million infant formula manufacturing facility to be built in Toowoomba saying hype around the potential of the region is now not just a pipedream – it’s becoming a reality.

“This is really exciting news for the region and a great day for our agriculture and food producing sectors,” Dr Lyons said.

“Our value-adding capability for agricultural products in the region has been spoken about for some time and this is a strong show of confidence in the region’s future as a food value-adding hub,” Dr Lyons said.

Dr Lyons said the facility’s location within the Wellcamp Business Park, which also houses the internationally-capable Brisbane West Wellcamp Airport, was a real coup for the region given the region’s growing transport and logistics capabilities.

“Last year we saw the first international freight flight take-off from Wellcamp Airport filled with regional produce bound for Hong Kong, with regular air freight flights due to start at the end of the year,” Dr Lyons said.

“This new facility is yet another exciting addition to Toowoomba’s growing export story and further reinforces Toowoomba’s position as the number one agriculture region in the country.

“The region is already well-known for having an innovative agriculture sector, and as TSBE have said for some time, it is only natural that some of our future strength as a region will come from our success in value-adding agriculture products.”

The project is expected to create 1,000 direct and indirect jobs for the region and further establish Brisbane West Wellcamp Airport as a specialist hub for air and road freight.

“The addition of another 1,000 jobs is fantastic news for the region and we are already starting to see Toowoomba gain traction in global markets like China and Asia more broadly, and stories like this are only going to continue to put Toowoomba on the global stage.”

TSBE will later this year take over 200 business to Shanghai, China to see and experience for themselves first-hand the opportunities for their business in this powerhouse economy.

Delegates can choose one of six sectors of interest for the tailored five-day program, with food and agriculture production one of the flagship program streams.