Geelong Food Co Products Cluster

GFCC Major Initiatives

 

GFCC is involved in the coordination of an extensive program of projects and new enterprises. We welcome enquiries from businesses interested in learning more about any of the projects, or in becoming a part of GFCC’s many initiatives.

Seafood Value Adding

  • GFCC has been engaged in new product development, functional foods research and nutrient extraction for seafood and aquaculture products since 2005.

Research and Development Initiatives

  • GFCC and Victoria University have a longstanding alliance in both research and development and in placing students for work experience and for graduate and postgraduate projects, through VU’s Advanced Food Systems unit.

New Poultry, Game and Beef Co-Products

  • GFCC has assisted meat industry members with new products and new technologies in red meat, white meat and game, with considerable success in domestic and export markets.

Seafood Based Biological Fertilisers

  • A GFCC managed company ASCo Fertilisers manufactures liquid and solid fertilisers from the by-product captured from the filleting of south-east Australian finfish species.

Indigenous Plant Foods

  • GFCC has coordinated research and product development in indigenous plant based foods, involving close alliances with Aboriginal communities, not only in regional Victoria but across Australia.

Provincial Food Retail Initiative and Asian Business Engagement Initiative

  • The Provincial Food Retail Initiative, or Champions Fare, which operated from 2008 to 2012, gave participating regional food manufacturers a chance to test their products in full service IGA supermarkets and to understand the demands of supplying to a major retail customer. Over the period, around 200 businesses received exposure to ‘doing business with retail supermarkets’, and about 30 of these businesses have continued to supply to major retailers in Victoria and interstate.

  • The Asian Business Engagement project has focused on regional food suppliers accessing retail stores in northern China, via the Chinese social media platform Weibo.