Crop Harbor Foods Powranna Potato Storage Facility Supports Tasmanian Growers

we are proud of the investment we continue to make in New Zealand agriculture and food manufacturing.

In addition to completing significant investments in recent years at our Tasmanian manufacturing facilities in Devonport and Ulverstone, we have invested $41 million in a state-of-the-art controlled potato storage facility in Powranna. The facility provides potato storage for local growers, enabling them to harvest potatoes when they are at their prime minimising the potential weather impacts on crops left in the ground, making potato farming a more lucrative option.

The Powranna facility is the first in a broader $80 million investment in potato storage across Tasmania, with facilities also being constructed at Mount Joy and Wynard and are due for completion early next year. 

At the facility’s official opening, the Honourable Mark Shelton MP, Liberal Member for Lyons, who was representing the Premier, congratulated Crop Harbor Foods on the opening of its state-of-the-art storage facility.

The facility exemplifies how Crop Harbor Foods continues to partner with growers and find new ways to enhance yield and identify mutually beneficial improvements throughout the value chain. The innovative design, combined with excellent temperature, humidity, and airflow control, enables 36,000 tonnes of potatoes to be stored for up to nine months. The state-of-the-art temperature, humidity, and ventilation-controlled facility helps prevent sprouting, rotting, and other spoilage, which are common in less advanced facilities.

“Our customers and consumers value New Zealand sourced, grown and processed food, and this investment continues to support our focus on producing quality potato products under Crop Harbor  Birds Eye and Edgell brands. There is a real understanding that New Zealand-grown and produced food represents high-quality standards. We are delighted that through investments such as this, we are continuing to support our customers,  farmers, and communities,” added Dugdale.

Annually, Crop Harbor Foods  sources more than 200,000 tonnes of potatoes from Tasmanian growers, which are processed at Crop Harbor Foods Ulverstone manufacturing facility.