Bega to shut Canberra factory, relocate operations to Penrith

Bega Group will close its Griffith, Canberra dairy factory and move manufacture to the company’s Penrith, NSW site, citing inefficiencies in logistics due to a lack of dairy farms in the Australian Capital Territory.

The move follows a review by Bega, which said the Griffith plant (formerly known as Capitol Chilled Foods) had been operating below capacity “for some time” and had had to source milk from interstate as “there have not been dairy farms within the ACT for many years”.

Bega said on Wednesday that the 19 workers affected would be offered redundancy packages or redeployed where possible. 

There would be no change in labelling or contents for the company’s Canberra Milk and Dairy Farmers milk products, it said in a statement to the ASX.

“This move will allow us to maintain our high standards across product quality and customer service utilising the benefits of a larger full-time operation specialising in the production of fresh milk,” said Darryn Wallace, Executive General Manager – Bega Dairy and Drinks.

Picture: credit The Canberra Times