Grocery giant Woolworths has expanded its operations in South Australia, unveiling its $57 million upgrade to the region’s distribution centre.

The DC, which grew by more than 30 per cent, can now sort and distribute additional volumes, house an expanded range of products, and allow more frequent deliveries of fresh food and groceries to stores.

“The importance of our supply chain infrastructure has come into sharp focus during the pandemic,” said Woolworths Group’s Primary Connect managing director Paul Graham.

“With this $57 million upgrade, we’re better placed than ever to support the essential food and grocery needs of South Australians. The extra capacity at the site will allow us to hold even more key essentials such as pasta, noodles, breakfast cereals and baby food [and] shorten delivery lead times on thousands of products across the state – allowing us to better respond to any future surge in demand.”

And, in keeping with Woolworths’ recent push into ensuring its operations are as sustainable as possible, the DC will be partially powered by a 1.6MVA solar array – which will output the equivalent of 300 Australian households consumption.

According to Graham, its the largest solar installation in the entire Primary Connect network.

“As the operators of Australia’s largest retail supply chain, we want to help build a better tomorrow for generations to come. We’ve made a multi-million dollar investment in renewable energy at this site with a massive solar installation, which is set to offset around 20 per cent of our annual energy needs,” Graham said.