North’s barley bonus

Expanded malthouse set to meet growing Asian demand

GRAIN Producers Australia has welcomed the massive expansion of the Malteurop malthouse that will be formally opened in North Geelong today.

The $85 million project will see almost half of all of Victoria’s malting barley being processed at the site.

The expansion comes after several years with production levels at capacity left Malteurop unable to meet demand or capitalise on growth markets in South-East Asia.

The French farmer-owned company operates 27 sites in 14 countries, with one in every 10 beers sold worldwide containing malt from Malteurop.

Leaders of the French Vivescia co-operative are coming to Geelong to mark the official opening of the project, on which construction started almost two years ago.

They include Vivescia director-general Alain le Floch, Vivescia president Christophe Büren and Malteurop CEO Olivier Parent

Grain Producers Australia chairman Andrew Weidemann said the expansion would provide a significant new pathway for more grain to be processed.

“I see that as a great benefit to Victorian grain growers and for the economy of Geelong,” Mr Weidemann said.

“It’s an important investment and we can only see good things coming from it.”

He said the ability for farmers to deliver directly to Malteurop was significant.

“It provides more opportunity for Malteurop to deal directly with the farmer, which improves supply chain efficiency and reduces costs associated with storage and the freight that comes with that,” Mr Weidemann said.

Australia managing director Trevor Perryman said about 85 per cent of the malt from the Geelong plant would be exported to the Asia Pacific region.

Malteurop has owned the Geelong operation since 2008 after the site was initially established as a malting house by a Korean company in the late 1990s.

The expansion was supported by almost $1.7 million from the Geelong Region Innovation and Investment Fund.