Proper Crisps gets some skin in the Aussie market with new factory

Wednesday, 6 April 2022

Proper Crisps are setting up an Australian factory, using Aussie spuds to cater for Aussie tastes, said GM Andy Leonard.

Nelson based Proper Crisps is branching out across the ditch – the company has opened a factory in Australia after chip sales there doubled in 2021.

Based in the Yarra Valley, near Melbourne, the factory did its first cooks for the 2022 season in the middle of March.

The company worked with an agronomist and local farmers trialling potato varieties to find a substitute for the agria potato it uses in New Zealand, which is not commonly grown in Australia.

Proper Crisps general manager Andy Leonard said the company was working through three varieties of potato in Australia – pelican, rumba, and verdi, trying to match as closely as possible the spud used in Aotearoa.

Whether it’s the company’s Kumara Crisps or any other crisp they make, it’s all about the “crunch factor”.

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“Yellow flesh was obviously a key part of that. Agria is a very nice golden yellow that looks beautiful and actually tastes beautiful as well.”

To make the best crisps it was all about the “solids versus moisture” in the potato, and the goal was to land on a “specific solids level”.

“It comes down to the crunch factor and the way we cook it. We’re quite specific about that – when the potato is harvested, and how it is handled close to harvest to get it in the right zone for us to cook.”

Proper Crisps are New Zealand’s most awarded chip.

The Nelson factory has 65 staff and uses around 25 tons of potatoes a day. Leonard said he was hopeful the Australian operations would reach that level within three years, once they were able to obtain sufficient volume of the varieties of potatoes needed.

Nelson will remain the headquarters for Proper Crisps.

It’s all about the quality as staff check the cooked crisps on the production line at the Nelson factory.

The impetus to expand offshore came from growth in the Australian market. The chips are stocked in 1500 stores across the country, and sales doubled in 2021, a growth Proper Crisps hopes to replicate this year.

Covid-19 related supply chain disruptions also played a part in expanding operations– with shipping availability and costs affected, which Leonard said didn’t appear to be improving in the short to medium term.

“We hope that we can inspire other businesses to be just as bold,” Leonard said.

“Being brave in the face of adversity will be the key to recovery for us all.”

Proper Crisps was the first snack company in New Zealand to introduce home compostable bags for some of its products.

Unfortunately this can’t be expanded to every kind of chip, Leonard said, for several reasons – the film is sourced from Europe and supply has been “challenging”. Cost is also an issue.

The company says it owes its success to long term partnerships with local suppliers, a modus operundi it hopes to replicate in Australia by using local ingredients.

The potatoes might be different, but Kiwis and Australians share one thing in common – their taste buds. In both nations Proper Crisps’ biggest selling chip flavours are sea salt, and cider vinegar and sea salt.