Testing Tomorrow: MNAQ Builds Australia’s Largest Food Safety Campus

Transforming an industrial facility into a high-performance campus dedicated to safer food and stronger communities.

The safety of Australia’s food supply is not guaranteed by chance. It is built through science, precision and trust. In partnership with Expedite, MNAQ has opened a new Melbourne campus which embodies that trust, creating a national hub for food safety that protects public health, strengthens resilience and redefines the future of testing innovation.

Previously spread across six leases and three facilities, MNAQ’s teams were physically and culturally siloed. The vision was bold: to unite every discipline under one purpose-built campus that accelerates collaboration, enhances capability, and supports a growing national demand for sustainable and secure food systems.

Raising the Bar for Safety and Sustainability

Foodborne illness costs Australia an estimated $3 billion annually in healthcare, productivity loss and supply chain disruption (Food Safety Magazine, 2024). Globally, one in ten people fall ill each year due to unsafe food, underscoring the need for robust, high-throughput testing infrastructure that can assure product quality at scale. By enabling earlier detection and quantification of contaminants, MNAQ’s campus helps industry clients minimise recalls, reduce waste across the value chain and protect brand and market confidence.

The new facility transforms food safety capability across Australia. The project reimagined an outdated, 30-year-old industrial facility into a state-of-the-art scientific environment with:

•     Advanced Infrastructure: A high-capacity substation, tailored lab utilities, and complex trenching networks to power advanced testing equipment.

•     Specialised Lab Fit-Outs: Fully integrated PC1 and PC2 suites, precise HVAC and fire systems, and contamination-controlled zones to enable safe, high-volume testing.

•    Sustainable Systems: Rooftop solar and energy-efficient services designed to lower carbon intensity and long-term operating costs.

Crucially, the project benefited from Early Contractor Involvement, which de-risked delivery before construction began. As Expedite's Construction Manager explained:
“Early Contractor Involvement allowed us to resolve buildability and cost issues during design rather than construction. Working with our trade partners, we locked in practical solutions early, including insulated ceiling panels supported by structural steel and relocating major plant to a ground-level plant room, reducing structural complexity and improving long-term maintenance access.” 

Early soil remediation eliminated environmental risks, aligning every stage of construction with MNAQ’s commitment to prevention and protection.