Paddock to packet, potato chip company Smith's 90 years in Australia | Landline | ABC Australia

[Music] at this potato farm in the new south wales riverina it takes 120 days from planting to harvesting to create a product that can be consumed within minutes but the journey of these spuds stretches back even further jason menegazo's family has been growing potatoes for over half a century eight or ten tubers for the last two decades they've concentrated on one major client oh yeah look at that in the last 20 years we've been solely supplying to smith's in the crisping industry and before that my family we started basically as migrant europeans coming to australia to the small blocks in werribee south and that was 80 years ago now so yeah it's a long history it didn't just happen overnight look at that perfect agronomist jp smith is inspecting the quality of the potatoes that will soon be turned into snack chips yeah this looks really good it can take 20 years to fully develop a potato variety and he says consistency is everything so we're looking at size color texture dry matter so solid content of the potato and we look at all these things because when we produce them our consumers want to have that beautiful potato in their packet when they're eating it so it gives them the experience of that excellent quality in every body in every bag pepsico which owns smith snack foods has developed its seven potato varieties to ensure year-round supply we have a variety now that we grow in australia that we grow it in the spring and summer and when the crop dies we can leave it in the ground for up to four months using mother nature as a as the refrigerator allowing us to have the same great quality in the middle of the winter as we have during the summer and spring the company contracts a staggering 120 million kilograms of potatoes annually they're grown by farmers across 47 sites around australia ranging from northern queensland to southern victoria [Music] at the processing shed the potatoes are unloaded washed and then graded green ones don't make the cut [Music] today jason's wife claudine and their daughter matisse are helping out on the production line and his father gerald who has retired from the farm occasionally drops by to check on operations and offer advice [Music] these potatoes are heading on a 1300 kilometer trip where they'll be turned into crinkle-cut chips within 48 hours [Music] introduced from england in 1931 this year smith's ship celebrates 90 years of manufacturing in australia in sydney surry hills frank smith and george ensor established the first of several factories around the country over the decades the manufacturing methods and technology have evolved dramatically [Music] i've traveled up to the smith's chips factory here in brisbane where millions of potatoes are turned into packets of chips each year i'm heading in to see the process and how it's all done this is one of two factories where the chips are still made the other is in adelaide in one day 320 tonnes of potatoes roll through the site around tons annually [Music] a water flume shoots the potatoes across to the factory where they are peeled sized and then sliced [Music] the slices are then fried for 3 minutes at 180 degrees to cook these chips 14 tonnes of australian sourced canola oil is used every day infrared cameras monitor the moisture and oil content as they move along the process line [Music] an optical sorting machine discards any irregular chips while the process is largely automated around employees work here long gone are the days when consumers seasoned their chips using a satchel of salt included in each packet chicken was the first flavor variety released in 1961. from there the classic staples including original salt and vinegar and barbecue continue to this day and the company is constantly searching for the next big flavor so we've got a research and development department that work really closely with our consumers um they look at what's happening on social media what restaurants are doing what different food trends are out there in the market um and they also will uh look to you know overseas so look at europe the us japan because they're quite innovative in terms of their you know their food flavors the chips go through a quality control process which includes taste testers we have people here who will taste the chip and they will say oh i think it's from this area or another area or a certain grower some of our team are are super well trained and so familiar with the products that they actually can detect a minor difference in the in the product texture or flavor manufacturing manager jason webster says 95 of production waste is recycled much of it going to compost and animal feed and it's in the company's interest to minimize waste where possible we're really passionate about you know ensuring we maximize you know what we recycle but more importantly we don't want to create the waste in the first place so when you look at things like peel we have stringent measures in terms of what our peel levels should be for over peeling we're creating more waste and also we're then having to use more potatoes to make to make our finished products so it's not just the emphasis on where that waste goes it's the emphasis is on let's not have that waste in the first place and minimize it as much as much as we can in addition to potato snacks the factory produces corn chips and other grain-based products i'm learning about ceo danny celloni says the company is continually addressing sustainability in its manufacturing he says this facility has reduced its use of water by 40 percent and electricity by 16 over the past five years we need to continue to improve sharpen our tools understand the latest technology to ensure that we leave a better footprint in the community and the environment we operate in so that's an integral part of the way we work right as we speak now our snacks packaging 100 of it is recyclable we're also working on biodegradable or compostable we want to get there by 2025. by the end of this year we'll have 100 renewable electricity from our manufacturing plants that's a long way from potatoes in the panic but this is where it all begins farmer jason menegazo says he is honored to follow in his father's footsteps i'm proud and i'm lucky too because i've been given that opportunity to farm and it's something that i've learned from my father and then obviously evolved on with new skills and new practices that we we are doing on the farm you always keep learning from your elders even though technology changes it's just the culture and principles remain the same [Music] you

Channel: ABC Australia

Views: 71,039

Rating: 4.9497828 out of 5

Keywords: ABC, Australia, ABC Australia, potato chips, smiths chips, farming, potato, Smiths potato chips, potato farming, making potato chips, Luke Wong, Galore, New South Wales, Wiradjuri, wiradjuri country, Jason Menegazzo, Growing potatoes, JP Smith, Agronomy, Landline, Landline ABC, ABC Landline

Id: 1JvaSTQQtnY

Length: 8min 46sec (526 seconds)

Published: Sun Aug 08 2021