A Derrimut pasta business will hire 10 new staff and purchase new equipment after receiving a grant from the state government.
Passion Pasta will receive $200,000 in the coming months to hire 10 full-time staff and buy and install a new boiler, cooker and freezer so the family business can expand its capacity to make ready-made meals.
The Benn Court business is run by husband-and-wife team Hanan and Nabil Dawoud, of Taylors Lakes, who were chefs by trade before Nabil started the company 14 years ago. Hanan came on board the following year.
When Mr Dawoud arrived in Australia from Egypt 24 years ago, he began working at Melbourne institution The Latin making pasta. He was there until it closed in 2001, and that’s when he saw a gap in the market.
“It’s been hard work but we’re quite happy where we’re at,” Mrs Dawoud said. “We don’t have sales reps on the road – we’ve just grown by word of mouth.”
The business supplies fresh pasta and ready-made meals for caterers, restaurants and airlines and exports to Asia and the Middle East.
The state government grant will contribute to the business’s $1.3 million expansion which it is hoped will boost exports and production rates. The 10 new staff members will join the current workforce of 35.
Passion Pasta is the 22nd business to receive funding from the Future Industries Manufacturing Program, which offers grants of up to $500,000 to help companies roll-out new manufacturing technologies.
