CRC field trip: Sanitarium R&D facility

On Wednesday 15 June 2022, 15 members of the CRC cohort were privileged to participate in a day-long excursion to industry partner Sanitarium Health Food Co’s Central Coast NSW R&D facility.

Our Interim CEO Richard Norton and Board Director Bob Mullins joined COO Satish Nair, Research Project Coordinator Maria Veronica Chandra Hioe, UNSW academics Greg Leslie, Chun Tung Chou and Yong Wang, and PhD students Mark Cardamis, Gareema Pandey, Namal Jayasuriya, Odgerel Bumandalai and Rishi Ravindra Naik, on the visit.

At the Sanitarium research facility at Cooranbong, the group was welcomed and given an overview of operations by Sanitarium General Manager Paul Ginn before dividing into two groups to tour the sensory and analytical facilities.

The group listens to an overview by Sanitarium’s Paul Ginn prior to touring the research facility. Credit: Future Food Systems CRC

The tours were followed by two 45-minute demonstrations in the company’s pilot plant: one showing Sanitarium’s cereal processing methods; the other demonstrating how the company processes its plant-based beverages.

Weet-Bix, Australia’s favourite breakfast cereal: the visitors got a demonstration of cereal processing in Sanitarium’s Central Coast pilot plant. Credit: Sanitarium Health Food Company

After a healthy lunch, some members of the visitor group gave short presentations on their research interests and specialities before final refreshments and a discussion-filled bus trip back to base.

CRC PhD student Rishi Ravindra Raik, from UNSW’s School of Chemical Engineering, talked to the group about his research. Credit: Future Food Systems CRC

CRC Industry PhD Gareema Pandey, from Western Sydney University, presents her research to the group. Credit: Future Food Systems CRC

The CRC would like to thank Sanitarium for hosting our group and organising the in-house tours and demonstrations.

Is your agrifood business CRC tour-worthy?

If you’re an industry or research partner of the CRC, or run a lab, research facility, 5agrifood operation or food-industry-related industry cluster that might be of interest to CRC participants and PhDs, contact us via communications@futurefoodsystems.com.au, outlining what a potential group tour of your business would include, and why it might be of interest to the CRC.

Further field trips

Stay tuned for further CRC field trips, including a day tour of Costa Group’s vast commercial hydroponic tomato-growing facility in Guyra, NSW, and a morning trip to visit Family Fresh Farms, an industry-best-practice indoor horticultural farm run by former Protected Cropping Australia Chair Nicky Mann near Peat’s Ridge, one hour’s drive north of Sydney.