LARGE sectors of Australian food production face the axe in the next five to 10 years, the industry has warned.

It is among a series of dire predictions that include the loss of 130,000 jobs by 2020 as key producers and manufacturers move overseas.

The industry's troubles were highlighted when Heinz closed its tomato sauce factory at Girgarre in northern Victoria yesterday, with the loss of nearly 150 jobs, as it moved processing to New Zealand. It follows the closure or sale of other food companies and factories, often to foreign ownership, in recent years,

The growing list includes Angas Park in South Australia, sold to the Chinese Government-owned Bright Foods last month, the closure of the Berri Juice manufacturing plant in the Riverland in June 2010 and the decision by SPC Ardmona to close the Victorian fruit cannery in August last year.

The closures were blamed on increased competition from cheap overseas products, the move of manufacturing to lower-cost countries and consolidation of operations.

The Australian Food and Grocery Council has warned the food manufacturing industry is at a critical crossroads. Its AT Kearney report late last year warned real industry turnover would decline by 0.2 per cent per annum in the coming decade from $108 billion in 2009 to between $105 billion and $106 billion in 2020.

"Over that same period real retail demand is forecast to grow at 3.7 per cent per annum with the growth gap being increasingly filled by imports and retailers' private-label products," the report said.

Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows food imports reached a record $10.6 billion in the 12 months to the end of November, up $2 billion in the past two years.

Food SA chief executive Catherine Barnett said the whole food industry was concerned about its future.

"One day in 10 or 15 years someone will wake up and say we import all our food, we have no say over how they produce it and we have no jobs, it will be awful," Ms Barnett said. "Everyone says you can't change the supermarket duopoly, but there is so little choice it is ridiculous. Do we really want to live on powdered milk imported from overseas?"

Ms Barnett said Coles and Woolworths were driving companies out of business, but were petrified about speaking out for fear of their products being deleted.