Even in the midst of a major corporate clean-up, flying in a team of Sydney auditors to a regional Victorian town just as Melbourne's second COVID-19 wave gathered pace was a sure sign this was not business as usual.

The Sydney-based PwC team, all braced to quarantine on their return home, were headed to Freedom Foods' Shepparton warehouses, just two hours from Melbourne. They were on a mission to find out exactly how the ASX-listed company let $60 million of UHT milk and cereals go off, forcing the company to destroy the stock.