Altona’s $24 million meals-on-wheels kitchen has the capacity to serve every Victorian council, says Community Chef chief executive Joe Ciccarone.
The kitchen was started in 2010 by 15 councils including Maribyrnong and Hobsons Bay. The participating councils took out a loan and secured state and federal funding.
Community Chef has moved beyond cooking meals for metropolitan councils to supplying aged-care homes and hospitals. Currently, it produces 1.3 million three-course meals each year, but it has the capacity to provide 4.5 million.
Mr Ciccarone said the food manufacturer was looking to partner with a trucking firm called Chain Logistics Company to deliver meals statewide.
The kitchen was expected to soon start making a profit. “It started with a $5 million loss that was budgeted, to a $2 million loss to less than $1 million, and in the next couple of years we’re planning to actually turn a profit.”
Community Chef is owned by Regional Kitchen. Hayden Raysmith, chairman of the board, said the company had an edge because food was pasteurised and could, therefore, last 30 days with refrigeration. ‘‘We’re the only food production facility that pasteurises the meals,” he said.
“And that technology, which is expensive to put in up front, means we could supply the whole of the state with very good quality meals because you’ve got 30 days in which those meals can be used.
“We had four business plans which we affectionately called the horse and buggy, the FJ, the Commodore and the Rolls Royce. We never thought we’d be able to build the Rolls Royce. Pasteurising wasn’t in the other three models.”
