{"id":53330,"date":"2025-06-05T09:55:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-04T23:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bidfood.com.au\/?p=53330"},"modified":"2025-07-08T15:27:27","modified_gmt":"2025-07-08T05:27:27","slug":"farm-to-plate-how-mccain-supports-local","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bidfood.com.au\/blog\/farm-to-plate-how-mccain-supports-local\/","title":{"rendered":"Farm to plate: how McCain supports local"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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From the fields of Ballarat to the kitchens of Barossa, McCain<\/a>\u2019s commitment to supporting local growers and operators is at the heart of everything they do. For over 50 years, they\u2019ve backed Aussie farmers and the venues that turn their spuds into something special.<\/p>

This is a story about how great chips start in the soil\u2014and become the crisp, golden fries that Australians know and love.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Sowing the seed<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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It starts in Ballarat with Chris Stephens, a fifth-generation potato grower who lives and breathes spud life. \u201cTogether with my family we grow potatoes mainly, that\u2019s our number one thing,\u201d he says. \u201cWe\u2019ve been on the same farm for well over a hundred years.\u201d The family\u2019s relationship with McCain goes way back to 1968, when McCain first came to Australia.<\/p>

Ballarat\u2019s warm days, cool nights and rich volcanic soils, make the region perfect for growing potatoes\u2014particularly the Innovator, the main variety Chris and his family grow for McCain. \u201cIt\u2019s a great potato,\u201d he explains. \u201cWe get good yields, it\u2019s good quality so we get lower defects. In the factory it processes really well, which means there\u2019s less waste.\u201d<\/p>

Chris knows that the perfect potato is the secret behind every chip. His ideal? \u201cFor us, a good potato is a nice, oval, 5-6 inches long so that it fills the plate,\u201d he says. \u201cYou get those nice long chips.\u201d<\/p>

Once harvested, Chris\u2019 spuds are transported to McCain\u2019s cool stores, ensuring they\u2019re kept in pristine condition before the magic happens. The humble potatoes are expertly processed into chips before heading out to pubs, caf\u00e9s, and restaurants\u2014such as one of the oldest country pubs in the Barossa Valley.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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From one family to another<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Chris Adams took over one of the Barossa\u2019s staple pubs nine years ago and is proud to continue that tradition with his wife, son and daughter.<\/p>

The family knew that a quality meal started with the best ingredients. \u201cOur menu is wholly and solely reliant on a quality chip,\u201d explains Chris. \u201cThere were a few suppliers who wanted to put in an opposition chip and we found that McCain\u2019s products were far superior.\u201d A chip that was born and bred in Australia was a major bonus.<\/p>

Whether it\u2019s the classic fish and chips or schnitzels with a side of chips, Chris knows what keeps his customers happy. The secret to repeat business is good quality food, good suppliers and consistency. \u201cWithout consistency you can\u2019t bring people back,\u201d he says. With McCain, he knows he\u2019s getting a high-quality product every time.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Loving local<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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600 kilometres apart, each Chris agrees that working with McCain is more than just business\u2014it\u2019s about community and connection. Over in Ballarat, Chris Stephens feels the impact when he gets a rare break to visit the local pubs and eateries. \u201cSometimes I will ask where the chips are from and it is good to know that restaurants are buying local potatoes,\u201d he says. \u201cIt feels good to eat your own chips or know that you\u2019ve played a part in feeding the local community.\u201d<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Explore <\/span>McCain's locally grown range.<\/span><\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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With the great range of products from McCain Foodservice Solutions<\/a>, you can be sure you’re serving the best, every time.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tShop online<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLearn more<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From the fields of Ballarat to the kitchens of Barossa, McCain\u2019s commitment to supporting local growers and operators is at the heart of everything they do. For over 50 years, they\u2019ve backed Aussie farmers and the venues that turn their spuds into something special.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":53336,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-53330","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-industry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bidfood.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53330","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bidfood.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bidfood.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bidfood.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bidfood.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53330"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.bidfood.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53330\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53994,"href":"https:\/\/www.bidfood.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53330\/revisions\/53994"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bidfood.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53336"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bidfood.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53330"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bidfood.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53330"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bidfood.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53330"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}