A great deal of activity is happening at the new factory site of Kooka’s Country Cookies.

Along with earthworks preparing the ground outside of the building, on the inside, the multimillion dollar factory fit out has commenced.

Brand new equipment stands wrapped and ready for installation under the guidance of Raffaele De Fazio, who is staying for a month to oversee the furnishing of the production line.

Raffaele’s company, Installazione Impianti Di Cottura Industria Alimentare, only gives away that he is from Italy; however, Google translate tells us he specialises in installation of cooking systems for the food industry (specifically for bakery and pastry shops) and he travels globally to do so.

Considering the complexity of the production line plans (not to mention they are in Italian), the staff at Donald Steel who are helping Mr De Fazio with the factory fit out, are extremely grateful of his 44 years of experience in this field.

The first of three ovens, weighing nearly 2 tons, was positioned in the factory on Wednesday June 19, at the beginning of a long conveyor belt, which stretches down the length of one side of the factory.

The conveyor then bends around the front end of the room and rises up to a second level, which maximises the efficient use of the vast space.

Despite the language barrier between Raffaele and the Donald Steel boys, not to mention the unbelievable number of nuts and bolts to be fastened during the process, the fit out is progressing well and slightly ahead of schedule.

The conveyor belt installation commences this week, with Peter Marks and Lloyd Davis from Paxon Group overseeing that particular part of the process. The community (and no doubt the staff at Kooka’s) looks forward to the finished result of this impressive factory.

This article appeared in The Buloke Times, 28 June 2024.