Pure Foods Tasmania: Daly Potato Co’s mainland success spearheads booming business

A Tasmanian company is looking to hire 20 new staff after the breakout success of one of its product lines, which is stocked in thousands of Woolworths and Coles stores on the mainland.

Daly Potato Co's ready-made frozen range. Picture: Daly Potato Co

A Tasmanian company is looking to hire 20 new staff after the breakout success of one of its product lines, which is now stocked in thousands of Woolworths and Coles stores across the country.

Publicly listed company Pure Foods Tasmania (PFT) owns a number of food brands including Woodbridge Smokehouse, Tasmanian Pate and The Cashew Creamery.

Pure Food’s fourth brand, Daly Potato Co, is on to a winner says managing director Michael Cooper.

Daly, which PFT purchased from Marion Bay potato farmers Gerard and Susie Daly in 2020, now has its newly released premium frozen potato and vegetable trays in 1000 Woolworths store nationally, and its pre-made hot potato and gravy tubs in Colesand Woolworths stores in three states.

“Our biggest problem is not selling the product, it’s about making it,” Mr Cooper said.

“Every pallet we make at the moment goes out the door. It’s quite challenging being able to produce enough.

Michael Cooper, managing director of Pure Foods Tasmania. Picture: Supplied

“We could probably sell 40 per cent more if we could make it.

“It’s a good problem to have but you don’t want to upset your customers.

Daly’s ready-made frozen vegetable trays come in four flavours – rosemary and garlic roast potato, duck fat roast potato, cheesy mash and roast medley mixed vegetables.

Last financial year the product resulted in PFTs “largest order” ever: 11,000 cartons.

“We’re offering a premium space to McCain or Edgell. We come on a tray, they’re in a bag,” Mr Cooper said.

“The duck fat one is the winner. It’s rocking.”

Gerard Daly, who alongside wife Susie sold Daly Potato Co to Pure Foods Tasmania in 2020. They still supply their former business. Picture: File

PFT has already begun research and development on additional favours, with ideas including Tasmanian sea salt and pepperberry.

In order to free up capacity for Daly’s runaway growth, PFT has sold another brand in its stable, Lauds Plant Based Foods, to Quioba-based fermented foods company, Love Your Guts.

PFT now has enough storage at its Sorell facility for 800 pallets, whereas it previously only had capacity for 30 pallets.

Susie and Gerard Daly's potato farm at Marion Bay. Picture: File

Mr Cooper said the greatest barrier on PFT further turbocharging Daly is workforce constraint.

“We could take an extra 20 people I reckon,” he said.

“Then we could move to second shifts. At the moment, we’re doing 12-hour days.

“We go through waves of good staff. A lot of them are visa holders – migrant workers. What they do is they have two jobs.

“When we want them to do an extra shift, they say they can’t, they’ve got to work their other job. They are such hardworking people.”

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What PFT sorely needs are skilled workers to shepherd their team.

“We need foremen, live supervisors. They’re hard to find. You can get the base worker,” Mr Cooper said.

Mr Cooper said Daly’s secret sauce is sourcing its potatoes from Marion Bay, as opposed to from the “darker soils” of the North-West Coast, where other brands in the frozen potato market get the majority of their produce.

“Our potatoes are a lot lighter. They roast off better, don’t burn off as quick,” Mr Cooper said.

“We think we’ve got a really good recipe. The Dalys grow a great product.”

Originally published as Pure Foods Tasmania: Daly Potato Co’s mainland success spearheads booming business