Wendy Askew (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak today about an exciting project that has been under development in our home state of Tasmania for several years and will soon come to fruition. The Fermentation Hub at Legana, in Tasmania's north, was planned as an innovative centre for excellence for the state's flourishing fermentation industry. FermenTasmania was granted $17.5 million by the coalition government's Building Better Regions Fund in 2021, and the hub is expected to open next year.

The 1,800-square-metre facility provides space to test and develop fermented beverages and food; nutraceuticals, which are products derived from foods that have health benefits or medical foods; and green energy on a small scale, with a view to scaling up. With producers and fermentation mentors working together, these new products can be perfected before being launched. This means innovations in wine, cheese, spirits, chocolate, miso, condiments, yoghurt, sourdough and products we haven't even dreamed of yet. These will be researched and developed in Tasmania for a wider market.

Aspiring fermented-product developers are now submitting expressions of interest to be part of the hub's starter culture. They include applicants from agribusiness, agritourism, education, the food and beverage sector and hospitality. Entry to the hub's starter-culture cohort includes space, access to equipment and expertise, training opportunities, advice on scaling up for commercial production, diversifying product offerings and more. The Fermentation Hub team will also help producers with commercial focused research, with support from industry experts at the University of Tasmania, TasTAFE and the Institute of Brewing and Distilling. I applaud the work that has gone into FermenTasmania's vision for this project, and I look forward to visiting the hub once it's finished.