Perth fruit and veg storage facility tipped to protect WA grocery shelves from natural disasters

Up to 6000 tonnes of fruit and vegetable will be able to be stored in a new WA facility as part of an effort to make the State more resilient to cuts to its supply chain.

The Woolworths Group food storage facility near Perth Airport is currently under construction, with the aim to increase the location’s capacity by around 10,000 pallets.

Already operating in the storage facility is a room set to specific conditions to best time when bananas and avocados ripen.

The move comes years after a flood cut off the Trans-Australian line in 2022 for a record 24 days, disrupting a crucial supply route to the west and leading to bare shelves across the State.

Transport Minister Rita Saffioti said the new facility would help shield the State from a similar situation in the future.

“When the interstate rail line went down for three weeks, we really saw how we needed to strengthen the supply chain, in particular some of the product that wasn’t available in WA because it was reliant on being moved across the nation,” she said.

“Since that time there’s been a number of initiatives, including strengthening the resilience of that rail line, but creating more capacity in WA in particular.”

Primary Connect supply chain director Chris Brooks said the benefits of the facility would be felt across the State.

“It’s all anchored in improving the resilience of our supply chain in Western Australia, and really helping support our customers shopping on more than 100 and stores throughout the state, from the far North West of WA to the South West and of course throughout the Perth metropolitan area,” he said.

“It will really improve the resilience for our customers and our stores and help future proof us against major events which we experienced back in 2022 and of course, to a lesser extent, last year.”