The expansion was marked with a visit by Minister for Manufacturing, Exports and Trade, The Hon. Richard Dalla-Riva MLC and City of Monash Mayor, Cr Micaela Drieberg, who toured the plant this week.Expansion in its chilled meals capability will allow General Mills to extend its market leading brand Latina into single serve chilled pasta meals and Latina™ family size lasagne and cannelloni products to add to its current range of Latina™ chilled pastas and pasta sauces.
General Mills Australia and New Zealand Managing Director, Markus Muehleisen, said the recent expansion of the Mount Waverley site had created 40 new manufacturing jobs.
“The expansion of the Latina brand into the chilled meals category is an exciting growth opportunity for General Mills and has given us the capability to provide fresh Australian-made convenient meal solutions for busy and discerning Australian consumers,” Mr Muehleisen said.
“Against a back drop of manufacturing decline, we’re proud to be building on our equipment and production capacity,” Mr Muehleisen added.
The key ingredients used by General Mills in production of chilled pasta meals at Mount Waverley such as meat, dairy and semolina, are all sourced from Australian suppliers.
Mr Muehleisen believes that local manufacturing is an important strategic enabler for the Latina™ brand. He said that local manufacture is allowing the Company to take advantage of quality Australian ingredients.
The Mount Waverley site has been manufacturing Latina™ products for more than 20 years and the plant has become General Mills’ global Research and Development network Centre of Excellence for chilled meals.
General Mills employs approximately 400 people nationally and was recognized by the Australian Business Awards as a recommended employer in 2010, 2011 and 2012.
General Mills was founded in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.A and has a history dating back to 1866, starting out as a flour miller. The company operates in more than 100 countries on six continents and entered the Australian market in the early 1990s.
Apart from the Mount Waverley manufacturing facility, General Mills Australia also operates a facility at Rooty Hill, New South Wales.
In addition to Latina pasta, sauces and chilled meals, General Mills Australia’s well-known brands also include Betty Crocker cake and baking mixes, Old El Paso (Mexican foods), Yoplait and Nature Valley.
