Unigrain’s Wagin oat processing facility receives $3m Industry Attraction Fund grant for expansion project

The WA Government’s Industry Attraction Fund has awarded $3m to Victorian-based cereal and pulse processor Unigrain for a planned $10m expansion of the Unigrain Wagin oat facility. The expansion project will increase the facility’s oat milling capacity and enable the Wagin site to process around 175,000 metric tonnes of locally sourced milling oats each year. “This investment highlights our continued commitment to value-added food processing in regional WA, and we greatly appreciate the support provided by the WA Government,” Unigrain Co-CEO Andrew May said. “We are proud to be investing in job growth and increased economic value in the Wagin community, along with the growing opportunity for our loyal and dedicated oat growers across the Wheatbelt.” The announcement of the $3m grant and the company’s expansion project comes at a time of increased demand for oat products from the Asian oat milk industry. “Consumers across Asia are increasingly looking to non-dairy milk-based options, and demand for oat milk continues to grow rapidly as the preferred drink of choice in the market,” Unigrain Co-CEO Fiona May said. “We are dedicated to supporting the growth of our customers in the region with high quality, sustainably grown Australian oat products.” A spokesperson for the Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science and Innovation said Unigrain’s application demonstrated their project’s alignment to “one or more factors around job creation, attracting skilled talent, maximising economic return, increasing competitiveness of WA industries in global supply chains or alignment to WA’s diversification objectives”. “The WA Government established the Fund to attract investment into WA, create local jobs and diversify the economy,” they said. “Unigrain is aiming to expand their advanced manufacturing of premium Western Australian oat flour which will provide many opportunities for the Wagin area and we wish them success in this initiative.” Work on the Wagin oat facility expansion is set to commence later this year with completion expected in 2024.