VEGETABLE processor Simplot says panic buying because of the coronavirus crisis highlights how critical its Australian manufacturing facilities such as those at Quoiba and Ulverstone are to ensuring the security of food supplies.
Simplot said its Tasmanian operations were "fully ramped up" at this time of year during the peak of the veggie harvesting.
"We are currently harvesting potatoes, peas, broccoli in Tasmania. We are trying to harvest every tonne of vegetable crop possible," a Simplot spokesperson said.
"Our extensive potato storage capability helps us to balance our operation between harvesting and processing.
"Like so many other food and grocery suppliers, we are seeing increased demand from our customers as a result of panic buying by the community, and naturally in response our customers have increased orders which have well exceeded our original forecasts for the current period.
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"In some categories this is aided by our Australian based manufacturing facilities which allow us to better respond to such demands.
"It is events like these that highlight having local supply of critical industries like food can help ensure security of supply for our country."
Simplot said it was working closely with its customers to address the consumer demand, and had in many cases been able to bring orders forward to fulfill requirements.
The processor said it had reduced promotional activity for now in a bid to bring annual supply and demand forecasts back into alignment.
"In the grocery sector we have seen a significant uplift in demand for our product," Simplot's spokesperson said.
"Frozen and canned vegetables demand in retail has been very high as consumers stock up on long life essential groceries.
"However frozen French fry demand...has been reducing over the past few weeks as restaurants, caterers, sport stadiums etc. have been forced to reduce service or close.
"We are closely monitoring this situation.
"As an essential industry we are taking our role to contribute to feeding Australia through this crisis very seriously.
"From the beginning of this crises we have set our guiding principles as keeping our people safe and well by taking steps to minimise the transmission of COVID-19 and maximising the opportunity to continue to provide healthy food products to our families, customers and communities.
"We are looking at every opportunity to increase production capacity and efficiency to produce more products.
Simplot said it was essential "to keep the flow of the nutritious product we produce flowing to supermarkets so that Australian consumers who are finding themselves eating more at home than ever before have the access to these products."
"Our agricultural teams and grower partners, our plant-based teams, our suppliers, our logistic providers and our supermarket customers are all essential industries and we are all working together to make this happen.
"We are working closely with our Tasmanian logistics providers to enable smooth flow of products."
As the last Australian grown frozen vegetable provider of any scale Simplot said people were looking for home grown veggies.
"Our customers and consumers definitely see a high value in Australian sourced and grown food.
"Also, they want to support Australian farmers, communities and businesses, sustainability is key.
"They know Simplot and many of our brands represent these values and that we are committed to both.
''Tasmania plays a significant role in this proposition and our customers especially understand the value that Tasmania, its farmers, our factories and our workforce bring.
"We take every opportunity to promote our Tasmanian operations with our key partners to reinforce the benefits and value that our Tasmanian produce brings.
"This helps us continue to build critical long term and enduring partnerships to help us to continue to invest in the future with confidence."
Simplot has adapted to new markets due to the coronavirus pandemic, which continues to unfold across the globe.
