Irish multinational food company Kerry Group will invest $13.7 million creating a centre for excellence for baked products in Altona.
The Herald Sun reports that the site will create 118 jobs, according to Victoria’s minister for state development Peter Ryan.
"The development of this new $13.7 million bakery operation will feature state-of-the-art manufacturing equipment and investment in research and development,” said Ryan in a statement.
"The centre for excellence will feature new manufacturing equipment including an automated baking line, pastry line, automated cake and doughnut decorating, freezing and packaging lines, slicing equipment and silos.
Ryan said it highlighted the state’s appeal as a destination to invest in food processing by multinational companies, and would assist in creating export opportunities.
The announcement comes a week after Mondelez, another transnational food company, officially opened an Asian R&D hub in Ringwood.
The food and beverage industry is consistently the strongest performing sector in Australian manufacturing, and led the sub-sector results in October’s PMI results.