Peek Frean Biscuit Factory

Also known as the Vita-Weat building this heritage landmark located at 476 Parramatta Road in Ashfield was the Peek Frean Biscuit factory from 1935 to 1975.

Vita-Weat crispbreads were first produced by Peek Frean in the UK and were the foundation product when the biscuit company opened its Australian subsidiary at a factory in Camperdown in 1932. At that time, Australia was an important export market for Peek Frean and setting up a manufacturing operation here allowed them to avoid import tariffs. Vita-Weat was their best-known product at the time.

The land where the factory now stands belonged to the Ashfield Children’s Home. They sold the northern portion of the land fronting Parramatta Road on the 6th of October 1935 to Peak Freans (Australia) Ltd Biscuit Manufacturers, who constructed a biscuit factory on the site.

This land had never been developed. The company engaged well-known Sydney architects Ross & Rowe to design their factory which opened in 1936. The building was noteable for its colossal cantilevered concrete awning and clean horizontal lines. Views of the building in 1937 below show the cantilevered concrete awning. It looked totally futuristic even by todays standards.

In 1937 Peek Frean moved their manufacturing to the new factory where the building became known as the Vita-Weat building. The clock tower was added sometime after 1943 which changed the whole scale of the structure. (Thank you samori for providing this detail in the comments)

The building was sold to Consolidated Biscuits, owner of Arnott's biscuits, in 1975. They continued to make the Vita-Weat and Lattice biscuits at this factory until 1993 when it was purchased by Havenmaze Ltd. Below is how the building looked in 1980.

Bunnings Hardware have operated on the site since 2001.

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Sources:

• Libray of NSW
• Ashfield Council Records

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