Started by potato farmers in 2002 and still run by the Bendotti family, who have been growing potatoes in the Southern Forests for generations, the Manjimup-based company relies on a network of about 20 South West growers to produce an array of frozen chips and potato products for the foodservice industry.
“We’re the only chip manufacturer in WA,” says Mark Joy, who came on board as WA Chip’s first customer relations and sales representative in Perth just over a year ago. “Everyone else is from over east or overseas.”
While this was understandably a point of pride, it wasn’t widely known. The business was largely built through word of mouth and on the back of regular customers, particularly in the South West.
Without giving away trade secrets, particular potato varieties are chosen for each product, with the skin-on country style chip, for example, using a different potato to the fluffier-textured 10mm café-style chip.
Opening more doors
Armed with free samples, Mark set about introducing WA Chip to a network of restaurants and cafés across the city.
“The response has always been positive – like me, a lot of people are willing to pay more if it’s local and it’s good,” he says. “There’s a lot of international inflow into the market and the product is nowhere near comparative. People will try our product and go ‘yours definitely tastes better’.”
Another point of difference is the fact that WA Chip is the only Australian company to carry Coeliac Australia’s seal of approval, an intense process that involved two years of testing and inspections.
Knowing he had high-quality products (and a good local story) to share, Mark booked an exhibitor’s spot for WA Chip at last year’s Meet the Buyer™, the annual trade show that brings buyers and suppliers together.
“I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it was very, very helpful and opened doors to new business,” he says.
One of those was with Mineral Resources, a Western Australian company that also wanted to support local producers. WA Chip now delivers a variety of products to the mining company’s Perth hub, which services camps across its operation. “It has potential to grow into a good customer,” Mark says.
The trade show also opened doors to an entirely new opportunity: the possible first export of a finished frozen product. WA Chip was introduced to the international delegation that attended last year’s event and had interest from a Singapore-based supplier servicing Michelin-star restaurants.
“We have sent samples and they like the product,” Mark says. “We’re still in conversations with them, looking at the logistics, but there is definite potential there.”
Building the momentum
It’s these kinds of opportunities that make Meet the Buyer™ so attractive. It’s why WA Chip is returning in October, this time with four representatives, instead of two. The plan is for two to roam the floor freely to see what’s on offer, while the others hold the fort at the stall.
“There’s a bit of a community feel, that we’re all on the same team,” Mark says of the atmosphere at the event, with several exhibitors approaching WA Chip directly to ask about expansion into the frozen food sector.
This year, the company is hoping to build on catering connections and explore other international leads. The team is also keen to start conversations around a retail product WA Chip is developing for launch later in the year, an air-fryer friendly, take-home range aimed at supermarket shelves.
It’s a considered move for a company that expects to remain anchored in foodservice. Retail packaging brings its own added costs, from smaller back formats to full ingredient labelling, a different proposition to the bulk bags WA Chip supplies to commercial kitchens.
After several bumper potato seasons and steady growth across Perth and the South West, Mark believes there is room for further expansion, including a longer-term push as far north as Broome.
“WA Chip was built by potato farmers, so they really know their stuff,” he says. “When people try our product they really like it. Then they find out it’s local and then that it is coeliac approved, and we have a pretty high take-up. We just need to tell more people about it.”
Meet the Buyer™ is at Crown Perth on Tuesday 20 October. The exhibition floor has sold out, but buyers can still book tickets to the trade show.
Note: Meet the Buyer™ is a trade and industry event only, but you can support local by supporting the businesses mentioned and looking out for local produce wherever you shop.
