When SA business success story The Yoghurt Shop needed a new location in order to expand, a former onion processing shop in Salisbury would prove the perfect location.

Yogurt Shop business development manager Brandon Reynolds said the decision to move to the City of Salisbury from Adelaide’s west was a no-brainer once they looked into it.

“One of the big reasons we moved to Salisbury was because we could scale up,’’ Reynolds said.

“The area had all the land and infrastructure we needed in the industry. We send most of our goods either interstate or overseas, and some of the biggest transport hubs in the state are only a kilometre or so away.

“The roads are built for the industry, so nobody has problems getting in…even just recently we have moved a whole bunch of admin staff here to consolidate that growth.”

The Yoghurt Shop is one of the latest in a long line of success stories within the City of Salisbury’s thriving food and beverage industry. The business launched from a stall in the Adelaide Central Market in 2003, and 16 years later has sold 25 million tubs of yogurt to more than 20,000 retailers across five countries.

Other household food and beverage names located within Salisbury include Bickfords, Inghams, Coca-Cola Amatil, Golden North, and Lion (the producer of Farmers Union Iced Coffee).

Major supporting logistics providers Toll and Border Express have their SA headquarters within Salisbury, while Coles major cold storage facilities are within the City.

Photo: City of Salisbury

The City of Salisbury’s food and beverage industry grew 27 per cent from 2011-16 and employed 1,900 people as of 2016.

The Yogurt Shop’s reasons for setting up in Salisbury in order to become internationally scalable are echoed throughout the region.

Salisbury Council is not only perfectly located in relation to key transport hubs and logistics vital to food production, it offers competitive serviced land. It is also becoming home to a collaborative, co-habitational environment for food and beverage businesses, increasing both the flow of ideas, and the overall competitiveness.

A supportive local council was another reason cited by Salisbury South-based Australian Wholesale Foods.

“Australia Whole Foods has been here since 2011, but we have been in Salisbury since 2000 with our previous business (CopperPot),” said the company’s director of foods Ray Khabbaz.

“We moved here firstly because the land was plentiful. Secondly, the council was encouraging people to come and build business opportunities, and thirdly because Salisbury was very close to the transport hubs that move food around the nation.”

The City of Salisbury is home to the Northern Adelaide Food Park, a dedicated food precinct supported by the South Australian Government, which is bringing together food manufacturers, food processors and supporting service providers such as food packaging specialists, storage, logistics and transport companies.

Photo: City of Salisbury

Situated within Edinburgh Parks, the Food Park helps businesses improve their cost competitiveness by co-locating essential services in a collaborative setting.

South Australian cheesemaker La Casa Del Formaggio recently announced it was moving its production from Glynde in Adelaide’s inner northeast to join the Food Park. Auscold Logistics has entered into a contract to secure up to six hectares of land at Edinburgh Parks to expand its specialised transport, logistics and cold storage operations.

Khabbaz said the Food Park would be incredibly beneficial for the businesses involved, and the City of Salisbury itself.

“Those businesses in the city (Adelaide CBD and inner suburbs) where they are limited for growth, and land is a premium, would see similar logistical benefits that we have (if they moved to the Food Park),” Khabbaz said.

In addition to the Food Park, the state’s primary fresh produce wholesale market – the SA Produce Market at Pooraka has had its $25 million expansion approved by the City of Salisbury.

The Council said the allure of the Food Park and the SA Produce Market would lead more food and beverage businesses to move into the region. The area is a particularly compelling option for new business given its skilled workforce, access to competitive transport logistics and competitively priced serviced land.

The City of Salisbury has long been dubbed the engine room of the state, and perhaps it may also earn the title of SA’s food bowl.

Solstice Media has partnered with the City of Salisbury to produce a series of articles detailing the key industries and opportunities emerging from the region.