Freedom Foods is one of Australia’s most popular health food brands. In 2018, in a bid to reduce energy costs and as part of its five-year sustainability plan, the company launched ‘Project Radiant’, an ambitious solar installation project at its Victorian processing operations in Shepparton.

At the time, energy was a major cost for the business. It was also vulnerable to regular fluctuations in voltage and supply due to electrical grid instability. The UHT (long life) milk production line in particular had been shutting down up to 10 times a year, each time costing Freedom Foods anywhere from $40,000-$70,000 in disrupted production and associated clean-up costs.

While solar panels, voltage optimisation, and storage were the fundamental goals underpinning the Project, “there was significant lead time to source the specialised equipment for our sustainability strategy,” explains Freedom Foods’ Project Manager, Jeremy Panuccio.

In collaboration with AEES Group, Freedom Foods was able to access a staggered payment plan developed by Smart Ease.

Multiple draw-downs throughout the complex 14-month construction phase enabled the project to stay on schedule.

According to AEES Group Managing Director, Richard Martin, “without Smart Ease’s expertise, in particular the simplicity and flexibility of the application process, the project would have taken significantly longer to get – and stay – underway.”

“Not only did Smart Ease tailor a plan to match the pace of the rollout,” says Mr Panuccio, “but their industry knowledge supported us in progressing with the whole project far more quickly.”

“The time savings enabled us to complete installation before Summer, enabling us to cut our seasonal energy costs and meet sustainability targets.”

The project was also supported by a $1.6 million grant from Regional Development Victoria (RDV). However because the grant could not be realised until the project was installed, an alternative funding solution was needed.

As the name would suggest, SA Tomato is a South Australian supplier of (you guessed it!) tomatoes. Based in Virginia, SA Tomato grows beautiful, hydroponic produce which it supplies to New South Wales and Victorian wholesalers. 

You’ll find their tomatoes at major supermarkets including Aldi and Woolworths.

Back in 2019, owner Oriana Petsios decided something needed to be done about the skyrocketing energy bills.

“Our energy bill for 2018-2019 was $65,000,” Oriana tells us. “It was a major cost for us.” 

The business case for switching to solar was simple. “Wayne at Kozco made it all very clear, there was no question it was the right thing to do.”

Situated in the Great Southern region of Western Australia, renowned for its award winning wines and spectacular coastlines, Gloria Dieu is a family-owned and -operated farm producing premium dried fruit, fresh apricots, stud sheep and prime grass-fed Australian lamb. 

Since 2015, the Theron family have used Gloria Dieu’s motto “Seed Faith, Harvest, Hope” to inspire and inform their business strategy, along with a commitment to ‘give back’.

“Food is the one thing that unites us around the world; it brings families together, starts conversations, and brings joy,” explains co-owner Annecke Theron.

Committed to improving the farm’s environmental sustainability, the Therons paid upfront for a solar project that quickly proved insufficient for their needs. Within a year, their backup generator was running 24/7 and both fuel and energy usage had actually increased.

Not surprisingly, when they connected with the Sunwise Energy team to develop a new and improved commercial-grade solar project, the Therons had some reservations. But these were quickly alleviated once they realised Sunwise shared their innovative vision.

“Being ‘clean and green’ is really important to us,” says Annecke. “Solar made sense, no question. But our initial efforts cost us dearly, so we determined that the new project would be built in three stages, each carefully planned, engineered, and implemented at the right time for us.