Kempsey will soon be home to the region’s first, fully certified, organic produce distribution centre which will feed communities right across Australia.
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Last week, work began on building the facility which will operate out of a site at South Kempsey, next to the Puma service station. Local growers of organic produce will have the opportunity to distribute their product around the country. The food will be packaged on-site before being shipped off to feed towns and cities across the nation.
In just 24 hours, the framework for the centre was erected thanks to a small team of Italian Aussies from Adelaide. The men arrived in Kempsey last week and worked through the night to get the fixture up and ready for cladding. The idea for the organic distribution centre is the brainchild of Adelaide fruit and veg wholesaler Rocco Musolino and Dondingalong organic garlic farmer Sally Ayre-Smith.
“We will be buying all the certified organic produce between the Queensland border and Sydney directly from the farmer, packaging it and sending it on to supermarket chains,” Sally explained, with a focus on smaller chains.
The South Kempsey site was chosen because of its excellent position on the freeway as well as strong support from Kempsey Council and the Macleay Valley Food Bowl council initiative.
"The Macleay Valley's climate is perfect for growing rich, organic food and is, therefore, the ideal location for a distribution centre that can help that market to grow and thrive. This centre will celebrate and support all our passionate, local, organic farmers who make the Macleay Valley the rich food bowl that it is."
“From this point on, we will rely on the excellent work of our local tradies to get the warehouse finished and the retail shop built and open our doors to the public early in 2018,” Sally said.
