Pangkarra Foods sells 5kg boxes of pasta made for restaurants, to people at home
Can’t find penne at your local supermarket? Try this South Australian Company, which is selling pasta by the 5kg box.
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One man’s pasta stash is another man’s treasure – at least that’s the case at Pangkarra Foods, where staff recently found themselves rolling in dried dough.
The Clare Valley-based company had produced new 5kg boxes of pasta destined for commercial kitchens, when COVID-19 trading restrictions forced restaurants to close their doors in March.
The family-run business was left with more than a tonne of the durum wheat wholegrain pasta, and no one to sell it to – so, they opened their (virtual) door to home consumers.
As many of the larger supermarkets run low on popular pasta shapes such as penne, shoppers are jumping at the opportunity to buy in bulk, said Pangkarra’s managing director, Sam Maitland.
“I wish I could say it was a cunning plan, but it was basically born out of necessity,” Mr Maitland said.
“We invested a fair bit of time, energy and cost into an area that no longer existed.”
The business was left with 270 5kg boxes of seven pasta shapes including penne, fettuccine and spirals. People in isolation can now buy a box online for $80, delivered. One box of pasta offers 33 (150g) serves.
“It has a 24 month shelf life,” Mr Maitland said. “Even when you open it up, you’ve got a good few months to use it and that’s if you’re not putting it into a container.”
Moving stock is imperative for the SA business, which had recently launched its new “pod” snack range of roasted chickpeas and beans.
“That was 70-80 per cent of our forecast revenue and that’s come to a grinding halt,” Mr Maitland said. “We haven’t had time to build the stockists around the country.
“We’ve semi-sidelined that at the moment to try to keep up with the demand for the pasta and staples.” Pangkarra’s wholegrain durum wheat flour is also available for purchase, at pangkarrafoods.com.au