With the Young Flour Mill saved from complete closure last month, it appears the 124-year-old institution may actually now breathe new life into the district.
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New owners, Quayle Milling, are a subsidiary of Rinoldi Pasta leading to a possibility for farmers to grow durum wheat – used to make pasta - in the future, according to Department of Primary Industry (DPI) district agronomist Paul Parker.
Quayle Milling purchased the flour mill after the previous owners, Aust Asia Milling went into voluntary administration in August this year.
The Young Flour Mill is the first mill Quanyle Milling - makers of Rinoldi, Nanda, Kookaburra and Vetta pasta brands - has owned.
The mill is presently being used to mill flour for major grocery house brands and cereal for a private brand, while sourcing milled durum wheat for their pasta from other Australian mills.
However, they were assessing and investigating the possibility of milling durum wheat in the future, says director Bill Quayle.
“One would hope, but it’s a bit early to call,” he said.
Mr Quayle said after what the last owners went through, they were being very careful to build the business slowly and steadily in order to create a stable and viable mill in Young.
“We’ve got to crawl before we can walk – we want it to work,” Mr Qualye said.
“It’s our intention to focus on our business, grow it and look at local and overseas opportunities,” he said.
Meanwhile Paul Parker said the problems associated with growing durum wheat in the area had, in the past, been the heavy transport and fertiliser costs, but if the local mill was buying the wheat, it would cut out half the problem.
“If the mill takes it here and [farmers] deliver it locally, it may be more viable but they have to look at the costs of fertilisers – that may be a drawback,” Mr Parker said.
Quandialla resident and former farmer Barry Keir said his father successfully grew durum wheat 20 years ago but said the high transport costs to South Australia prevented it from being viable.
He agreed if farmers could deliver it locally this could change.
“Given today’s agriculture knowledge and improvement in plant delivery and varietal research, it could possibly be a viable crop given the fact you could deliver to the [Young] Flour Mill, if they use it,” Mr Keir said.
Mr Quayle said this was a possibility but that they didn’t want to move too fast.
He wanted people in the town to know that Rinoldi Pasta had been around since 1878, with his family owning it since 1958.
“We’re long-term people in business and that’s what we intend for the people of Young,” he said.
“We’ve revived the business up here.” Mr Quayle said. “It could have gone to the scrap heap.”
He said they hoped to be an asset for Young, already using the town’s services and businesses.
“We intend to use the town where possible.”
The business is also hoping, as it increases, to grow its worker base from the initial 10 it rehired from the previous owners.
