It meant hours on the road, while money was spent outside of the rural town.

That all changed 12 months ago when the manager of the town’s Bendigo Bank branch, Mark Lacey, decided to open a small Filipino food store using an adjoining store front.

He opened with 300 lines of products, ranging from Filipino favourites like milkfish and Longganisa sausage, to different varieties of rice, traditional vegetables and coconut.

It proved so popular that, 12 months later, there are now more than 600 lines.

“They couldn’t access these items in town, so they’d have to travel to Bendigo or Swan Hill, or even to Melbourne,” Mr Lacey said.

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“I didn’t want to see people leaving town and spending money out of the town.

“They usually come in after 4 when they’ve finished work, so we stay open later to make sure they can do their shopping.”

All of the groceries are sourced online from wholesalers in Melbourne, creating a grocery store unique to almost any other rural town in Australia.

It was a gift to the Filipino families, most of which emigrated to Pyramid Hill to use their agricultural skills to help staff the local piggery.

They also helped to reverse the steady population decline of Pyramid Hill. In the last Census, the population of the township actually increased – from 419 in 2011, to 430 in 2016.

The Census also found that 60 people in the town were born in the Philippines, compared with 18 in 2011.

Helen Garchitorena arrived in Pyramid Hill with her family in 2013 to work at the Kia-Ora Piggery as a sponsored migrant with skills in animal husbandry.

She said it was a shock at first because of the town’s isolated location, sparse population and few shops.

“The kids were shocked too to find a school with such few student population,” she said.

“The impression was… it was too lonely and quiet.

“The town has a bit changed since then, at least the number of cars that are parked around town has. I reckon it has more people now and is not as quiet, or it might just be me who became used to it.”

The people of Pyramid Hill have also made the Filipino community feel welcomed, although they might be more reserved than the warm and open nature of Filipinos.

“What matters is that the two cultures talk and become friends in any ways that they are comfortable with,” Ms Garchitorena said.

And now, with their own grocery store, annual Pyramid Hill Fiesta and more events on the way, the town is feeling more and more like home.

“The Filipino shop gives us the convenience of easily getting what our palates crave for,” she said.

“What matters is, the Filipino store being a local shop thrives.

“In the general equation, at least the Filipino money is still spent in a local store rather than in a Bendigo Asian shop.”