Lismore’s Norco ice cream factory opens after $100 million rebuild from flood damage

Almost two years after it was gutted by a record-breaking flood, a farmer-owned ice cream factory in the northern New South Wales city of Lismore is back in full production.

The Norco factory remains on a flood-prone site on the bank of the Wilsons River, but this time the design is different.

Chief executive Michael Hampson said 130 people were now working in the factory, which is churning out more than 500,000 litres of ice cream a week for the national market. 

“There’s been a lot of people that have had the shoulder to the wheel, done the midnight hours over an extended period of time to get this factory operational,” he said.

The rebuild has cost around $100 million, with the NSW and Commonwealth governments providing financial sweeteners totalling $46 million.

‘Submarine’ doors to keep water out

The factory redesign includes an electronic engine room perched high above record flood levels, and a submarine-style room where ice cream vats holding millions of litres of product are stored. 

“We have what we call the submarine door near the entry to this room, which gets bolted up to keep water out,” Mr Hampson said.

“We’ve got reinforced concrete walls, with support arms that come over to provide additional reinforcement in time of floods.”

Federal Agriculture Minister Murray Watt said the rebuild was an opportunity to build back better.

“We know Lismore is a flood-prone town,” he said.

“It’s so important for this town’s morale, the region’s morale, to have these visible signs of progress and there is nothing more visible than the Norco ice cream factory.

“We have to take the opportunity to build back better and increase the resilience of this factory.”

Farmers welcome new-look factory 

Dairy farmer and Norco director Paul Weir suffered $3.5 million in financial losses from the February 2022 flood, including 110 cows and calves which were washed away in flood waters. 

The 51-year-old from Tuncester said it was a huge relief to see the factory reopen in Lismore.

“From a farmer co-operative point of view, there’s no way that we would have had the money to rebuild,” Mr Weir said.

“Our whole farmer base had just been smashed with the floods and extended wet weather.

“There was a lot of worried nights, will it or won’t it go ahead?

“Until they [the government] finally came out and said they agreed to fund it, then the pressure went off everyone’s shoulders.”

Workers back on the job

Third-generation Norco factory employee Joshua Sawtell said the 2022 flood was a double blow for his family, having their South Lismore home gutted in flood waters as well as his workplace.

Mr Sawtell and his family were rescued by members of the volunteer “tinny army” at the peak of the crisis.

“You lose your house and then you see your place of employment gone and your heart sinks that little bit more,” he said.

“It does give us some hope that moving forward Lismore is going to eventually bounce back.

“I’m just really looking forward to getting life back to normal.”