EastCoast Beverages $4 million expansion

Kulnura-based fruit juice manufacturer Eastcoast Beverages has completed a major $4 million upgrade and expansion of their processing facility that will see them double their production and help satisfy growing demand for their products.

Funding for the upgrade was provided by a $1 million low interest loan from the NSW Government’s Regional Development Trust Fund and were used to install new automated processing technology, high speed conveyors, bottling equipment and advanced line cleaning systems.

Production of Orange Juice 2L will now increase from 60 bottles per minute to 120 bottles per minute and enable Eastcoast to supply new markets.

Eastcoast presently supplies Woolworths, Coles, IGA, and other supermarkets across NSW and has recently picked up contracts to supply Woolworths in Victoria and Coles in Victoria and Queensland.

Additionally, Eastcoast now supplies eighteen international airlines including British Airways and Emirates.

Commenting on the market for orange juice, Mr. Lentini said that Brazil, the world’s largest orange producer, has seen a substantial drop in production following a severe drought and citrus disease known as greening.  At the same time, Florida, another major citrus producer, was seeing declining production while California, another major producer had been hit with destructive weather events.

“Fifty years ago, imports almost wiped out the Australian citrus industry, but we are now making a comeback, and the global shortage is seeing prices for fresh fruit and fresh juice start to increase as the imported product dries up,” he said.

Today, Eastcoast sources their fruit from across the Central Coast, Riverina, and other areas across Australia.

When the Australian Government removed tariffs in 1975, imported orange concentrate from Brazil flooded the market resulting in orange juice being produced at very low prices and almost wiping out Australia’s citrus industry.

The Lentini’s moved into juicing their own oranges and today the Eastcoast brand has become synonymous with quality orange juice in major supermarkets.