Royal Nut Company

As seven La Trobe University students prepare to get hands-on experience at Royal Nut Company, its Managing Director has walked in their shoes. While studying mechanical engineering, Sanjay Mirchandani undertook a summer internship at an engineering company.

“Going into an established business and learning from professionals was extremely valuable,” he says.

As part of La Trobe University’s Work Integrated Learning (WIL) program, students have the opportunity to gain practical, skill-relevant expertise within a dynamic business environment.

Over 120 hours, students from La Trobe’s Business School immerse themselves in tasks that bridge their academic knowledge with real-world applications, setting a solid foundation for their future careers.

“Many of them are very young and have very limited work experience, typically in university-type jobs, like pick packing in a warehouse or working in restaurants and cafes,” Mr Mirchandani says.

“This is one of their first experiences in the real world.”

After travelling overseas and working for a large corporation for a decade, Mr Mirchandani returned to Melbourne and took on the Managing Director role at Royal Nut Company to grow the business further.

Established in 1987 and purchased by Mr Mirchandani’s father in 2002, Royal Nut Company manufactures, distributes, and retails dry goods – mainly nuts, legumes, dried fruits, spices, snacks and confectionery. Mr Mirchandani joined the business six years ago and has been instrumental in its growth and transformation.

As Royal Nut Company navigates this period of growth, the students’ arrival couldn’t be timelier.

“The business is expanding rapidly, and our teams are stretched to implement a plethora of improvement initiatives,” Mr Mirchandani explains.

“These students bring valuable support, particularly with tasks like data capture, to enable process refinement and efficiencies, which is crucial amidst our ongoing changes.”

Beyond immediate operational support, the placement at Royal Nut Company holds mutual benefits for both La Trobe University and the company. It strengthens partnerships between academia and industry, offering potential career pathways for the students who stand out.

“If a student excels during their placement and we have a suitable opening, we certainly consider hiring them as graduates,” Mr Mirchandani says. “That’s a mutual benefit for the student, the university, and us as a business.”