Ausnutria, a milk formula and nutritional manufacturer, purchased the 296 ha Girgarre East property last year and proposes to eventually milk up to 300 camels.
The company plans to build a processing plant on the site, including a small spray dryer.
The Hong Kong-based company, which operates in the Netherlands and mainland China, moved into the Australian scene in 2016 with the acquisition of Nutrition Care Pharmaceuticals, Australian Dairy Park and OzFarm.
The OzFarm label markets nutritional milk powders with milk sourced from Gippsland, Victoria.
Australian Dairy Park manufactures infant formula at its Carrum Downs factory.
In 2020, the company improved its infrastructure in the Netherlands, with new facilities including a new base powder facility and other related facilities for the processing of goat milk.
For 2020, the group recorded a revenue of 7985.8 million Chinese Yuan (AUD 1.5 billion) representing a year-on-year increase of 18.6 per cent, among which the performance of the own-branded formula milk powder business (being the group’s core operations) recorded revenue of CNY 6926.4 million.
The company recorded AUD $65 million in earnings before income tax last year.
An independent non-executive director with Ausnutria is Aidan Coleman, a former chief executive officer with Bega Cheese and Tatura Milk and a former managing director of Fonterra Brands Australia.
The Girgarre East property is bordered by Kilmartin Rd and Girgarre East Rd.
The planning permit was issued on December 21 last year and no appeal was lodged with the Civil and Administrative Tribunal within the required time.