General manager Charlotte Bowan said it was business as usual for production, with extra hygiene precautions.
‘‘We are classed as an essential business, so have a lot of established criteria in place to ensure the safety of our workers and production. Two metres distancing, keeping the staff bubble as small as we can and contractor hygiene,’’ she said.
‘‘At this stage we are keeping our staff to what we have. It is an unprecedented time and with the lockdown it has changed the way people are consuming; we are working hard to ensure there are still chips on the shelf.’’
Heartland uses potatoes grown on the Bowan family farm in South Canterbury.
When they leave Fallgate, the potatoes are transported 30km down the road to the Heartland Chip factory, where they are sliced, cooked, packaged and distributed to outlets throughout New Zealand, Singapore and Australia.
‘‘When panic buying came into play we did not see a huge change in consumption. Easter is a busy time regardless, so we came out lucky with the timing.
‘‘ We were prepared.’’
