This was on top of a package of other measures, amounting to a staggering $1.7 billion, the state government has already announced for regional economic development in NSW. The purpose of the largesse is to stimulate and re-energise the economy of regional NSW after being decimated over the last three years by drought, fires, intermittent flooding and, finally, a crushing pandemic.

But why should this particular announcement be of interest to the people of the Bathurst region?

It is presented because there are two wonderful opportunities in food processing that Bathurst is brilliantly positioned to gain enormous benefits from.

The first opportunity is in hazelnuts.

Ferrero is a multi-national food manufacturer based in Italy. The company's main products are familiar to us all - Nutella, Tic Tac, Ferrero Rocher and Kinder Surprise. The company has grown to become the second biggest chocolate producer and confectionery company in the world.

Many years ago, the NSW Government convinced Ferrero to establish a small manufacturing plant in Lithgow (pictured) to produce Tic Tacs and a modest quantity of Nutella. The plant has expanded several times over the years and its Tic Tac line now produces billions of the small confectionery breath mints that are sold throughout the whole of the Asia Pacific region.

Ferrero has been extremely satisfied with their growing presence in Australia and recently planted one million hazelnut trees at Narrandera (yes, 1,000,000 trees). The company expects to produce over 5000 tonnes of hazelnuts annually, enough to reduce imports of this nut to zero and start an export industry.

A large proportion of hazelnuts will be turned into Nutella and here the company may have a problem. The site at Lithgow might be insufficient to construct a plant big enough to handle huge boost in raw materials.

Why transport thousands of tonnes of raw hazelnuts from the Riverina all the way to Lithgow, when Bathurst offers more space, more people, more skills and more food manufacturing expertise? I am not suggesting poaching existing jobs from Lithgow. The 100 people currently employed there will remain and concentrate on Tic Tacs.

The second opportunity is in breakfast cereals.

Everyone knows Kellogg's, acompany that has been selling iconic brands such as Corn Flakes, Rice Bubbles, Nutri-Grain and Just Right since they opened a manufacturing plant in Botany in 1914.

But times have changed. The small manufacturing plant Kellogg's established on the banks of Botany Bay was then on the outskirts of Sydney. In fact, well and truly in the country. Now its large site is being hemmed in and under pressure from container terminals, airports and the ever-pressing sprawl of urban development.

At some point in the very near future, Kellogg's will consider selling off its considerable landholdings in Sydney and rebuilding a massive new, state-of-the-art manufacturing facility somewhere in regional Australia, closer to the source of its raw products, grains and cereal crops.

Why not Bathurst?

We already have a strong food manufacturing base, with Devro and Mars Petcare in the city and just down the road with Nestle's Purina plant in Blayney.

If Bathurst Regional Council worked closely with the NSW Government with its $100 million war chest, we might be successful in attracting Ferrero and Kellogg's to this geography and, in so doing, secure up to 300 extra jobs for the city.

How sweet would that be for our Bathurst region?

Brilliant Bathurst - stuart@bigpond.com