Sustainable Innovative Food Technologies Centre helps Geraldton business Bravo Gazpacho expand its reach

The future of a Geraldton-based business looks bright after taking advantage of a state-of-the-art facility to boost its product’s shelf life. Bravo Gazpacho produces the popular cold Spanish soup — with a few twists to suit the Aussie palate— with no preservatives, using locally sourced ingredients including tomatoes, cucumbers and capsicum. In June, Bravo Gazpacho owner and founder Sonia Garcia Ayala started using the Sustainable Innovative Food Technologies Centre in Peel to test ways to improve her product’s shelf life, using a high-pressure processing technique to cold-pasteurise foods. “Using the specialised equipment at the SIFT Centre allowed us to test ways to scale up gazpacho production and significantly improve the shelf life of our product,” Ms Garcia Ayala said. “This means we can produce larger batches less frequently, while reducing product returns from the retailer – increasing our ability to focus on business development and increase sales.” She said she hoped her product would be able to reach shelves beyond its current markets of metropolitan Perth and Geraldton. “Without (the SIFT Centre’s) expertise and access to the technology, my business wouldn’t have been able to grow as much as it has,” she said. The SIFT Centre was launched this year, with the WA Government joining forces with the Future Food Systems Cooperative Research Centre, delivered by Murdoch University. It allows startups and established businesses to access factory-scale resources and receive hands-on expert advice to optimise their potential. “Our success comes from enabling the WA food and beverage businesses to test and scale products — helping to grow our flourishing local food production sector,” SIFT managing director Stuart Johnson said.