A Sunshine Coast-based agribusiness is preparing to move its manufacturing to Caloundra with the completion of a new $30 million base.
According to a Caloundra Chamber of Commerce press release, the 25,790sqm Country Chef facility is the equivalent size of 99 tennis courts or 21 Olympic swimming pools, and is expected to bring employment opportunities and a possible future economic benefit of $102.5 million to the region.
Country Chef chief people officer Lucie Tunwell said Caloundra offered a good landscape for the business’s growth and provided a possible solution to workforce challenges sparked by a lack of affordable housing.
“We have been experiencing the staff shortages for a couple of years now and have probably been hiring people we wouldn’t usually, but Aura is around the corner from our new site so it might bring another form of candidates,” she said.
Ms Tunwell said Caloundra also offered the best footprint and access to major road infrastructure.
Country Chef isn’t the only agribusiness making the move to Caloundra.
Kilcoy Global Foods last year unveiled a $50m plan to build a food manufacturing factory in Corbould Park, creating 300 new jobs.
The company is also hoping to curb workforce shortages at the site by revealing plans to develop homes, a clubhouse, gym and options for eating out on the land surrounding its abattoir.
Agribusinesses have been among the strongest contributors to the Coast’s economy over the past decade.
Ten years on from the implementation of Sunshine Coast Council’s Natural Advantage: Regional Economic Development Strategy, the region’s economy has grown by $7.7 billion with agribusiness among the industries to have experienced growth. It has increased from $467.9 million of gross value added in 2014 to $536 million in 2022.
Implemented in 2013, the REDS strategy provides a 20-year vision and blueprint for sustainable economic growth on the Sunshine Coast.
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The strategy’s goal is to reach an economy worth $33 billion, which is $11.5 billion more than it currently is by 2033.
But annual report data shows some high-value industries identified in the strategy are lagging.
Four of the seven industries have grown, but aviation and aerospace; tourism, sport and leisure; and knowledge industries and professional services have suffered a decrease in gross value.
Caloundra Chamber of Commerce president Michael Shadforth said he believed the COVID-19 pandemic was to blame for the industries’ decrease.
“Since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic we have noticed a sharp bounce-back in the aviation, tourism and professional services space,” he said.
“For example, the Sunshine Coast Airport is in a period of impressive growth with the launch of Bonza.”
It comes as the Sunshine Coast Council readies for a new REDS Strategy after a 10-year review.
Mr Shadforth said effective planning and transport solutions, as well a thriving night-time economy, would ensure the region can attract and retains talent, unlocking its economy.
“We know that 33 per cent of the Sunshine Coast residents who moved here in the past 12 months are retired and do not participate in the workforce, so we need to attract a workforce who can help grow our high-value industries,” he said.
Mr Shadforth said a key factor in attracting the workforce to the region was creating available and affordable housing.
“We need to sustainably develop a mixed supply of appropriate dwellings so we can provide housing for our current and future population,” he said.
“Caloundra is home to undeveloped land, but we need to ensure that sustainable development occurs in identified areas such as the economic corridor, Halls Creek and Beerwah East.”
According to figures from the chamber, five out of six new Sunshine Coast residents are moving to the Caloundra region, with its population expected to grow from 99,669 in 2021 to 187,065 in 2041.
Aura is a huge contributor to the area’s boom with a growth rate of 5.6 per cent and a predicted 29,844 residents by 2041.
Its younger demographic, with an average age of 32.7 years, is also crucial the local workforce.
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