McCain Smithton returns to seven day roster, $37m upgrade complete

The news comes just in time for the completion of the plant's long-awaited $37 million upgrade.

The multi-national announced in March last year the plant would become the company's primary retail french fry production facility in Australia and New Zealand.

Plant manager, Gordon Gillies, said the upgrade was in its final stages of construction when the pandemic hit, leaving the site with just 15 per cent of its commissioning resources to become fully operational.

"The pandemic presented challenges for all of us - but the way our people adapted enabled us to keep production levels high and continue to fulfil our responsibility to supply food to our fellow Australians," he said.

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"As a team, every person played a significant part in making the upgrade operational and getting production back on track."

He said the project had injected an additional $6.4 million into the Circular Head region during construction, including resources, accommodation and ancillary spending.

Mr Gillies said he was proud of the commitment and cooperation shown by all Smithton staff, and thanked them for their positivity and resilience during challenging times.

"We are pleased to be upskilling our team with the new equipment and as well as expanding our permanent workforce - a demonstration of our going commitment to production in the region," he said.

"We love our people, and Australians love our golden chips.

"We're proud to be bringing the best of Tassie to the supermarket freezer aisle working with local growers, our logistics partners and all employees to continue to deliver delicious product."

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