
Michael Robertson & Marc Smith, JL King & Co (Part One)
From Remarkable Regional Business by Hebron Films
May 11, 2026 · 38 min · Episode 68
About this episode
Michael Robertson and Marc Smith discuss the history and growth of JL King & Co, a family-owned food manufacturing business in Bendigo.
Remarkable Regional Business – Episode 46 (Part One) Guest: Michael Robertson & Marc Smith Business Name: JL King & Co Website: https://www.jlking.com.au/ He got a phone call from the man he was competing against. “Come and have a chat.” And that one conversation changed a whole lot for JL King and Co. In this conversation on Remarkable Regional Business, Caleb Maxwell sits down with Michael Robertson, managing director and owner of JL King and Co, and Marc Smith, the recently appointed CFO. JL King and Co is a family owned food manufacturing and distribution business based in Bendigo that has been part of the region for over a century. Today it produces more than two million meals a week and distributes across the entire country from Broome to Hobart. Michael traces the journey from an eight pallet truck running to the Melbourne market twice a week with docket books and a calculator, to one of the most significant food manufacturing operations in regional Victoria. The business grew one request at a time, from slicing cabbage to cooking potatoes to building a full manufacturing operation from the ground up. Topics Covered / What JL King and Co is today A Bendigo based…
People in this episode
Host: Caleb Maxwell
Guests: Michael Robertson, Marc Smith
Topics covered
- food manufacturing
- business growth
- regional business
- family-owned business
- distribution
- history of JL King & Co
Keywords
- food distribution
- meal production
- Bendigo business
- family business history
- manufacturing operations
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: JL King & Co
Places: Bendigo, Australia, Broome, Hobart
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