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Food manufacturer Safcol Australia has broken ground on an $80 million purpose-built production facility at Edinburgh in Adelaide's north, a major investment that will replace the company's ageing Elizabeth factory and double its manufacturing capacity over the next two years.
The new facility will be built by South Australian firm Sagle Constructions and is designed to consolidate Safcol's operations onto a modern site equipped to handle rising energy costs, logistics pressures and the limitations of its existing infrastructure.
Safcol, now in its 81st year of operation, produces around 60 per cent of Australia's wet baby food supply alongside soups, canned vegetables and seafood products.
The company says the Edinburgh site will allow it to future-proof its Australian manufacturing base at a time of intensifying cost pressures across the sector.
“Our Elizabeth facility has served us incredibly well over many decades, but increasing energy costs, rising logistics pressures and ageing infrastructure meant we reached a point where maintaining long-term competitiveness required significant change,” says Safcol Australia CEO Andrew Mitchell.
“The new site gives us the opportunity to redesign our operations from the ground up with modern manufacturing capability, greater efficiency and room to support future growth.”
The existing Elizabeth operation houses Safcol’s national warehousing and import business, supporting seafood and pet food distribution across Australia.
The groundbreaking at Edinburgh was attended by representatives of Safcol's parent company, Thailand-based Tropical Canning, underscoring the scale of the commitment to Australian production.
The announcement has coincided with the opening of Safcol's new Adelaide Fish Market facility in the inner-western suburb of Thebarton, giving the company two significant operational milestones in a single week.
The $80 million investment lands within a South Australian manufacturing sector that punches above its weight nationally in food and beverage production.
The state's food and beverage manufacturing accounts for nearly half of all manufacturing activity in South Australia, representing 3 per cent of the broader state economy, according to the Department of State Development.
However, the sector faces structural headwinds with domestic manufacturing's share of industry value-added contracting from 9.7 per cent in 2011-12 to 6.3 per cent in 2021-22, a trend that makes large-scale reinvestment of the kind Safcol is undertaking increasingly significant for the state's industrial base.
In addition to producing its own South Australian Gourmet Foods range, Safcol manufactures products for a number of well-known Australian brands, including a renowned gourmet food brand, supermarket private labels and other major food partners.
The company also processes local mussels and Australian canned abalone for export markets.
Mitchell says the new facility will incorporate advanced manufacturing technology and provide opportunities for future renewable energy integration aimed at improving productivity and reducing energy and water consumption.
Safcol says sustainability and operational efficiency remain central to the design and future operation of the new Edinburgh facility.
The company has already implemented a range of sustainability initiatives across its existing operations, including solar-powered infrastructure and upgraded retort machinery that have reduced carbon emissions by about 240 tonnes annually and cut water usage by around 136 million litres each year.
The company says its fishing practices have also contributed to a 90 per cent reduction in marine bycatch, helping save millions of marine creatures annually.
Packaging materials, including plastics, are recycled wherever possible, with the company continuing to invest in innovation aimed at further reducing landfill waste through improved materials and manufacturing processes.
For Safcol, the new Edinburgh facility represents the next chapter in the company’s long-standing manufacturing presence in South Australia.
“This investment is about building a manufacturing footprint that is fit for the future while continuing to support Australian producers, local supply chains and South Australian jobs,” says Mitchell.
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