Training centre gives global boost to food industry

A centre that will help Australian food manufacturing companies stay globally competitive has been officially launched at the University of Sydney.

The ARC training centre for the Australian food processing industry in the 21st Century (ARCFPTC) was awarded $3 million over three years from the Australian Research Council through its Industrial Transformation Research Program.

According to Professor Fariba Dehghani, from the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and co-director of the new centre, ARCFPTC has been designed to boost the nation’s food technology and manufacturing capacity.

“The new centre aims to boost the Australian industry’s capacity to compete in a global market, particularly in the production of nutraceuticals for pharmaceuticals, dietary supplements, or food ingredients,” Professor Dehghani stated.

“The centre will design cost-effective and sustainable processes for producing these types of products, with a view to minimising waste while enhancing efficiency and reducing energy consumption,” said Professor Dehghani.

The centre will provide a multidisciplinary research environment that includes 14 researchers from engineering, agriculture, science and medicine, as well as international collaborators, and 10 food and biotechnology industry partners.

The ARCFPTC will work with Australian businesses to develop more advanced manufacturing techniques, in order to reduce costs and increase energy efficiency. The funding of the centre has been supplemented by its industry partners through cash and in-kind contributions, Professor Aidan Byrne, ARC CEO said:

“This particular ARC Industrial Transformation Training Centre has an important focus and it covers a key research sector identified in the Australian Government’s recent Industry Innovation and Competitiveness Agenda - food and agribusiness. This centre will educate a new generation of engineers and scientists and foster the capacity of Australian food industries to further develop advanced technologies in manufacturing and product improvement.

“Another key objective of this centre is to work with industry partners to develop improved processes for the production of nutraceuticals - such as nutrients and dietary supplements - for the promotion of health and wellbeing. These high-value products have the potential to significantly increase Australian exports in agribusiness.”

Partners in the centre include Agricure, Lang Technologies, AB Mauri Technology and Development, Peanut Company of Australia, Ecopha, Marine Biotechnology Australia, Batlow Premium Juices, PharmaCare Laboratories, Perfection Fresh Australia and Stahmann Farms Enterprises.