Assistant Minister for Education Anthony Chisholm has unveiled a new research collaboration that aims to double the value of Australia’s food and beverage manufacturing sector by 2030.
The Food and Beverage Accelerator (FaBA) partnership involves the University of Queensland, the University of Southern Queensland, and the Queensland University of Technology and will convene some of Australia’s top researchers and industry leaders to develop and kickstart more efficient ways of manufacturing foods and beverages and develop more nutritional and sustainable products.
FaBA is expected to give Queensland’s food and beverage industry a significant boost and create approximately 1,700 skilled jobs, 20 new startups, and 30 new products and ingredients.
It will also train the next generation of Australian researchers across food, science, biotechnology, and engineering to build industry-related capabilities in the food and beverage sector.
“Recent disruptions to global supply chains demonstrated how important it is for Australia to increase our food manufacturing capabilities to better meet domestic and international demand,” Chisholm said.
“This substantial investment will see our world-class research being translated into new commercially viable products which can make a difference to Australian and international food security.”
The University of Queensland was among the six universities that received $50 million through the government’s Trailblazer Universities Program.
These universities will also share a $45 million funding that will allow them to leverage specialised equipment at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation.
FaBA will also receive an additional $110 million from industry and research participants.
