The Andrews Labor Government is supporting a state-of-the-art artisan cheese factory that will bring expertise, training and jobs to the Castlemaine-Bendigo region through its revamped Food Source Victoria (FSV) program.
Holy Goat Cheese in Sutton Grange has been given a grant of $25,000 to support planning for ‘Cheese Works’ – a modular dairy factory and a training facility that will be the first of its kind in Australia.
When established, Cheese Works will bring start-up artisan dairy businesses together with an artisan dairy manufacturing school that will provide international training and internships, as well as selling produce and high quality artisan cheeses.
A small consortium of highly skilled artisan dairy producers and educators will be investing with Holy Goat Cheese in the project, which they hope will galvanise the development of Australia’s artisan cheese industry.
FSV grants support producers and businesses working in partnership to develop products that take the state’s superb produce to the next level, creating new jobs and growing exports.
The FSV program has recently been modified to make it easier for Victorian agri-food businesses along the entire supply chain to apply and connect with regional producers.
The application process has been simplified and streamlined, and support is now available to help applicants find partners and develop their ideas.
FSV provides grants under four streams:
- Network Facilitator Grants, a new program to help member-based organisations to find partners, develop ideas and prepare applications for Growth Grants
- Individual scholarships, to help people working in regional agribusiness to expand or add value
- Planning Grants, so those in the agri-food supply chain can engage a skilled advisor to help develop their plans for growth
- Growth Grants, providing seed funding to kickstart those growth plans.
Information about all four streams is available at vic.gov.au/foodsource.
Quotes attributable to Minister for Agriculture Jaala Pulford
“Last year Delicious magazine awarded Holy Goat their ‘Producer of the Year’ award and thanks to this grant, they will now be sharing their expertise with aspiring cheesemakers throughout the region.”
“We’ve revamped the Food Source Victoria program to make it easier for agricultural producers in regional Victoria find the right partners and funding to take their products to the next level.”
Quote attributable to Member for Macedon Mary-Anne Thomas
“This is great news for a local food and fibre company seeking to take their venture to the next level and we’re proud to support them.”
Quote attributable to Member for Bendigo West Maree Edwards
“Victoria already has some of the country’s best produce and this grant program is building more jobs on the back of that excellence right here in Sutton Grange.”
Reviewed 19 August 2020