Fast food mask supplier Detmold will boost its production and send masks to health workers dealing with coronavirus

Healthcare workers burning through the last of their mask supplies will get a reprieve – from an Adelaide company that’s hastily expanding into the medical field to help them.

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An Adelaide family business that makes packaging for fast-food giants is swinging into action to pump out a staggering 145 million surgical masks for use by medics on the frontline fighting coronavirus.

In a tale of ingenuity and invention, Detmold will make the masks at its Brompton factory, creating up to 160 new jobs.

Premier Steven Marshall said it would ensure SA medics had what they needed to take on the potentially deadly virus.

Forty-five million of the masks will be quarantined for use by SA Health, and the remaining 100 million will go to the national stockpile to help with an expected rise of cases.

Mr Marshall in recent weeks dispatched officials to see if local businesses could retool and start making medical equipment. He likened the effort to having homegrown submarines, saying SA and the nation needs a “sovereign capability” in medical supplies to ensure it can fend for itself in a global crisis.

SA taxpayers will hand over $1.5 million to help with the purchase of new machines, as Detmold opens up new floor space to expand its factory.

Detmold Group CEO Alf Ianniello and Director Sascha Detmold Cox with a high-grade medical mask they are about to start mass-producing in their factory. Picture: Tricia Watkinson

Production is expected to begin in May and continue until the end of the year. Detmold expects to keep manufacturing medical supplies once this crisis passes.

Detmold executive chairman Rodney Detmold told The Advertiser his company would keep supplying current customers, including McDonald’s and KFC, with packaging as usual.

“We are very pleased that we are able to support the Government’s effort in combating this problem,” he said. “This has all occurred over the last two weeks.

“We got into conversations with them, and they stressed the urgency of the whole thing.

“People want Australian (products). It does cost a little bit more, but it’s important to have a base in Australia.”

Detmold has been in operation since 1948 and previously made toilet rolls.

Its chief executive, Alf Ianniello, said the company’s global network had been essential in sourcing key equipment and raw materials.

“The supply chain complexity is significant, and it’s only because we have people all over the place that we have been able to pull it off,” he said.

“We never thought we were going to be making masks, but we are happy to lend support. I think our entrepreneurial spirit allowed us to give it a go.”

Mr Marshall said the deal would create jobs and was a great result for frontline health workers. “Every South Australian should feel very proud,” he said. “We’re not only playing our part to secure masks for SA, but a significant role on the national stage in combating the spread of COVID-19.

“The existing supply chains from overseas left us in a precarious situation. This gives us a local capability, which is seen nowhere else in the nation.

Federal Industry, Science and Technology Minister Karen Andrews said it was a fantastic example of Australia’s strong manufacturing base.