Local boy cooks up a hot career

ANDREW Nooy arrived for his first day on the job at Pakenham’s Nestle Foods factory never thinking that one day he’d be running the place.
Back in 1984, the then 24yearold was more concerned about finding work in his home town than coveting the manager’s car space.
Fast forward over two decades, lots of hard work and today Andrew is the convenience food giant’s local hero.
He has been appointed factory manager, overseeing a staff of more than 400 people at a multimillion dollar operation that churns out a mindboggling array of products.
Pizzas, pasta, instant noodles and a huge variety of readytoeat meals are just some of the Pakenhammade items locals pluck from the supermarket shelves every day, possibly never knowing they’re made right here.
Andrew is one of only a handful of employees in local industry whose commitment and business vision has taken them literally from the factory floor to the boardroom.
That it happened with one of the world’s biggest international companies – which allowed him to come back home – is more credit for a local boy redefining the notion of “making good”.
“It is pretty rare. I’m probably the first person here to go from the bottom to the top,” the modest and personable Andrew told the Gazette.
“Not that I ever aspired to being in charge when I first started.
“We moved to Pakenham when I was nine. My family ran a bakery in John Street, which was the only one in town.
“It was always very busy and I’d help out in the shop. I went to primary school at St Patrick’s, then Pakky High. “I wanted to be a physed teacher but my marks weren’t high enough so I stuck with the family business.
“When my father retired, I got a job as a cook at Nestle and that was the start of it.”
One of the town’s biggest employers, the big factory near the railway lines on Racecourse Road is a Pakenham icon.
There are few longterm local families who have not had some association with the producer of such brands as Papa Giuseppe, Maggi and Lean Cuisine.
Even greater is the likelihood that just about every local household would – knowingly or otherwise – have eaten food manufactured within its walls.
“Local produce” may not be the first thing people think of when they reach into the freezer at the supermarket or home to grab a pizza for a quick, easy meal.
Yet that’s more or less what it is. Homemade, just on a larger scale.
“It’s not much different from the kitchen at home, but obviously much bigger,” Andrew said.
“Our products are all made from raw materials, most locally sourced.”
Of course, not many kitchens have the capacity to turn out 50,000 Papa Giuseppe pizzas a day.
The Pakenham factory also produces 360,000 cakes of Maggi magic noodles per day and around 110,000 Lean Cuisine meals.
New and different products and recipes are constantly being trialed. Overseeing tasting and testing is a very big part of Andrew’s workload.
“You certainly eat your own product, I’m still fairly lean so it must be pretty good!”
Asked to nominate a favourite, Andrew thinks hard before nominating the Lean Cuisine Tasmanian salmon with creamy sauce, or the good old Hawaiian pizza perennial best seller.
All that food, and the tasters in white coats, immediately conjures images of Charlie and the chocolate factory but Andrew said the Nestle versions of Willy Wonka’s heaven are in Auckland, New Zealand and Campbellfield, Victoria.
Andrew and his family – wife Kaylene and children Jason, Matthew, Elise, Anthea and Joshua – lived for a time in Auckland, where the Nestle confectionery arm is based.
They have also lived in Fiji, where Andrew first went to broaden his career horizons in 1992.
Having been promoted to production supervisor at Pakenham, he took on the role of production manager at the Fiji factory.
It was the first time Kaylene, a born and bred local, had lived away from her home town.
“We loved Fiji,” Andrew said. “It was a pretty hectic time with a very young family but we hope one day to go back and visit again.”
Back in Pakenham in 1994 after two years abroad, Andrew continued to rise up the ranks. His transfer to New Zealand as operations manager in 2001 was followed by a stint in Campbellfield, which produces Kit Kats and other chocolate lines.
In October, 2005, Andrew returned to work at Pakenham. He was appointed factory manager in February and the family made their home in Drouin.
“I always knew there’d be opportunities within the business, but you do probably need to go outside the town to grow.
“It’s unusual to come back and be manager but that’s just the way it went.
“I love the area, it’s a fantastic place to live and raise a family, it’s nice to come back home,” he said.
Despite such a large staff, Andrew believes he would “go pretty close” to knowing everybody’s name.
“A lot of people have been here for many years, longer than I have. It’s always had a closeknit staff even as it has grown. We pride ourselves on being familyoriented.
“Des McKenna was the manager when I started and he was certainly a role model. Back then I never thought I’d be where I am now but I’m very proud.
“It’s great when talking to new employees to be able to say where I came from, that I started on the factory floor.”
Andrew believes the partnership between Nestle and Pakenham will continue into the future and hopes to play a major part in helping it flourish.
But for all his achievements, there is one small trapping of success that has eluded him.
Andrew may be in charge, but he has to jostle for a space in the carpark the same as everybody else. There’s no longer a space reserved for the manager.
“It’s all equal opportunity these days,” he said.