A decision to relocate his family from Delhi to Australia, in May 2023, has proved a successful one for Tongala Nutrition founder and chief executive Siddharth Jani.
Tongala’s historic milk factory site will soon be operating five days a week after securing contracts with three companies whose products will be stocked on the shelves of supermarket giants Woolworths and Costco.
Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content
Flavoured milk products and, in the near future, a fruit cheese product will be produced at the Bosse Rd factory by what is expected to be a staff of 30.
And, by the start of 2028, Tongala Nutrition founder and chief executive Siddharth Jani hopes to be producing export quality products from the site.
“We will be concentrating on the Australian market for the next three years and we then plan to export to India and Asia,” he said.
Mr Jani first stepped foot on the former Nestlé site in November 2023 and has ambitions of returning the factory to its former glory.
“It is a unique site with huge potential. Before deciding to bring my family from India I looked at several other factories around Australia,” he said.
“This one ticked all the boxes and fitted within our budget.”
After an exhaustive re-commissioning exercise, which took the best part of 12 months, the production line of the factory has been operational for the past two months.
The father-of-two moved to Australia with his family in May 2023, having experience in the dairy ingredients industry in India.
Sixth months later, after forming his company, the process of securing ownership of the Tongala site commenced.
“Week on week, two to three days a week, I drove from Melbourne to Tongala to investigate every nut and bolt on this site,” Mr Jani said.
“We knew the site could produce what we needed and we knew there was a market for those products.”
A historic image of the Tongala Milk Products factory, which operated for many years as Nestlé and is now Tongala Nutrition.
The first product to be produced at Tongala Nutrition is a blended milk product that supports the fundraising effort of marathon runner Nedd Brockmann.
Mr Brockmann is a 24-year-old electrician from Forbes who is supporting the homeless by running across Australia.
Nedd’s Milk has chocolate and iced coffee varieties and was launched into Woolworths stores. The product is made with farm fresh milk sourced from Ky Valley Dairy and packaged at Bickfords in a plastic recycled PET bottle sourced in Australia.
“This is just the beginning,” Mr Jani said, praising the work of his Tongala team — including chief commercial officer Phil Gomizel and plant manager Steven Townsend.
Mr Townsend is overseeing the installation of equipment that will produce the company’s third product — Mable’s Cheese — which will become available at Costco sites around Australia.
While the company’s headquarters is located in the Melbourne CBD, Mr Jani said the heart and soul of the business was in Tongala.
“There has been a very strong buy-in from the community, from the time I first met 40 or so people at a pub luncheon to the connections I have made by playing the odd game with Tongala Cricket Club,” he said.
“It hasn’t taken long for this town, and its people, to find their way into my heart.”
Mr Jani said support from Campaspe Shire Council, in particular economic development manager Astrid O’Farrell, had made the transition from dream to reality a lot easier than it otherwise might have been.
It is an unusual marriage for the Delhi-born and London-educated businessman, who was part of a delegation to Australia five years ago and had his interest sparked in returning to build a business in the country.
Seventy per cent of the factory is now being used by Tongala Nutrition to prepare for its impending growth, with its sales team, engineering department and laboratory all on site.
