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New Midfield dairy factory in VIC to create 250 jobs

Meat processing business Midfield Group has received approval to build a milk factory in Warrnambool, Victoria, which will be constructed adjacent to its abattoirs.

The ABC reports that 250 jobs will be created at the factory. The news follows the announcement last week that Midfield will begin building another, “almost identical”,facility in Penola, South Australia.

The Victorian factory was approved by the state parliament yesterday.

The Warrnambool Standard reports that Victorian planning minister Richard Wynne denied their Warrnambool approval was a knee-jerk reaction to Penola.

South West Coast MP Denis Napthine, who was premier when the factory expansion was announced last year, said the news was beneficial for jobs and the agricultural sector.

"Growing marketing opportunities in the rapidly-expanding Asian economies underpin this important local investment," he said.

Construction in Victoria will begin immediately, and there are plans to begin production in July next year.

Midfield will spend $60 million converting the Penola site from a former potato processing plant to a dairy processor. It has said it will not open the Warrnambool site until Penola is operational.

Both will serve the growing Asian market for dairy products.

"The milk powder produced at the site will be targeted at exports markets that include China," SA premier Jay Weatherill told The Australian Financial Review.

 

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