How OTR’s rebrand is fuelling jobs and growth in Katherine

A national brand has opened its first store in a regional Top End town. Find out what they have planned.

The Northern Territory’s first OTR outlet has opened in Katherine.

The South Australian fuel-and-food-stop franchise bought into the NT at the beginning of 2023 and has wasted no time leaving a mark on its multimillion-dollar investment.

The company has spent at least $500,000 investing in the old Puma outlet on Bicentennial Road with new equipment and extensive upgrades to the dining and laundry services shared by truckies and travellers, as well as bathroom makeovers.

OTR’s Top End assets are quietly being switched from Puma to Caltex-branded fuel,

with Puma outlets set to disappear from Australian roadsides by 2025.

Previously branded On The Run until a 2019 name change, OTR announced in January it was buying the Territory’s 15 Puma-branded stores from Chevron Australia Downstream, with the deal finalised in April.

The business has 25 employees recruited from the Katherine region.

OTR WA and NT manager Brenton Dorsett said Katherine was now OTR’s second biggest site nationally – just smaller in size than Ord River.

OTR management and staff in Katherine Chris Quince, Daniel Burgess, Suranji Atapattu, Brenton Dorsett and Marcus Hayes.

“It was one of the biggest sale sites in Australia that OTR purchased during the acquisition so they wanted to make a big impact with the best regional location they’d acquired through the purchase,” Mr Dorsett said.

“The whole purpose is increasing the offering to the locals and to the transient trade that we’re getting through in terms of OTR product and customer experience.

New interiors and food lines at Katherine OTR.

Beyond cosmetic and layout changes, OTR has upped the food stakes with brands popular with travellers interstate now on the shelves in Katherine.

Mr Dorsett expected the Moe’s brand, famous for its $3 hotdogs, to be popular with travellers.

“Paying $3 for a hotdog anywhere doesn’t happen. It’s cheaper than Bunnings and it’s a quality product, a good Barossa sausage,” he said.

“I think it’s going to go well in Katherine along with our other offers so we’re looking forward to seeing the reaction to that and everything OTR brings in terms of convenience.”

Another boost for the business will be the rollout of stage three of the nearby Katherine East estate development as well as billions being spent upgrading RAAF Base Tindal in readiness for an increased US military presence in the NT.

OTR’s Territory area manager Chris Quince said the location for its first Territory rebrand was carefully thought through.

“Everybody coming north in the NT has to pass through this intersection, whether they’re going to Darwin or WA,” he said.

A $1.15bn buyout of OTR by Viva Energy is under review by competition regulator ACCC.