Business features

A group of farmers, a few grain traders and a couple of transport operators from across Australian are behind Agripak, the new grain packing company located conveniently on Ballan’s Daylesford Road, just off Western Highway off-ramp.

“The shareholders believed there was room for another grain packing company in Australia,” said the company’s Manager, Kelvin Fitzpatrick, who moved from his own farm in Moulamein in New South Wales’ (NSW) Riverina district in October 2005 to manage construction of Agripak’s Ballan site.

Agripak purchased the vacant 50-acre site in Ballan around mid-2005. Construction of the multi-million dollar facility began in October 2005, and was completed by June 2006.

The 14-member shareholder group has invested $3 million-plus setting up business and the construction of the Ballan site. Walla Walla-based engineering company Kotzur supplied the six latest-model silos, capable of 7,000 tonnes of storage, while the main building was built by Action Sheds in Stawell.

“We work with a few businesses in the area,” Mr Fitzpatrick said. "As much as possible freight is given to local local trucking firms."

With over three decades of experience working in the agricultural industry – from running his family’s Moulamein-based grazing, sheep, wheat and rice property - Mr Fitzpatrick currently runs the modern and highly-efficient grain packing facility with just four other staff members and casuals when busy.

“We’ve set up a fairly automated site. We fill 20-foot containers with grain for export, for a number of companies around Australia, including Tasmania.”

Less hands-on than years gone by, the automated site requires the two staff members to focus mainly on receivable and dispatch requirements – most orders and billing are done simply via email.

Serving big-name clients such as the Australian Graincorp, Elders and some small exporters, the company operates under strict Australian Quarantine Inspection Service (AQIS) guidelines, ensuring samples are taken and tested from all client export produce.

Located just under a 45-minute drive from Melbourne’s container wharfs, Agripak not only has the competitive advantage of accessible distance, but also comparatively affordable land costs and overheads.

“We looked at other areas, but Ballan’s location to Melbourne was the reason why we decided on this site,” Mr Fitzpatrick said. “Here we have the capacity pack 250,000 tonnes a year on the 50-acre site.”

Agripak’s large Ballan property will enable the growth beyond its city-based competitors. Professional Grain Services (ProGrain) - one of Agripak’s largest competitors in the wheat packing industry - operates primarily from the 3.08-hectare (7.6 acres) Laverton North-based handling and distribution centre.

“Our freight and transport costs into the container wharfs are only marginally more than it is from a location such as Laverton,” Mr Fitzpatrick said,

The recent and on-going drought conditions has attributed to a slow start for the new grain packing business, but Agripak expects business to increase with better seasons and greater seasonal yields. Despite these initial environmental set-backs, the company is gaining awareness in the industry through word-of-mouth.

“At the moment we mainly do wheat and barley, and we have done some faba
beans and peas,” Mr Fitzpatrick said. “We are able to do rice. I expect we’d be operating all year round when the seasons improve.”