forager's Innovation & Expertise

State-of-the-art facilities at the cutting edge of food preservation

The largest and most advanced manufacturer of freeze-dried products in Australia

Forager Food Co’s production facilities at Red Hills, Scottsdale and Western Junction in Tasmania’s north feature state-of-the-art freeze-drying capability and are supported by full-service manufacturing facilities, including ambient, chilled, and frozen storage, food processing, packing, despatch, and logistics services.

Red Hill Farm

Located in Northern Tasmania’s beautiful Meander Valley is Forager Food Co’s Red Hill farm and home to our first processing facility, commissioned in 2009.

The location is conveniently positioned close to many of our valued growers, supplying premium Tasmanian produce for inclusion in our freeze-dried products. Maintaining and developing relationships with our suppliers has been vital to our success, and where possible, we always seek premium Tasmanian ingredients first.

Red Hills is home to four of our freeze-dryers, Tony, Arnie, Bertha and Rosie. Yes, they have names! After all, they are the hardest working part of our business, processing 490 tonnes of product annually.

Western Junction

Forager Food Co’s all-new world-class $7.5m freeze-drying and processing facility located at Western Junction in Tasmania’s north has made Forager Food Co. the largest freeze-drying processor in Australia.

Central to the facility are two all-new and state-of-the-art freeze-dryers capable of increasing Forager Food Co’s processing capacity 8-fold to 4,490 tonnes of wet product per annum.

The freeze-dryers are supported by world-class processing and packing facilities, along with over 2,150m² of chilled and frozen storage, offering clients an integrated and seamless manufacturing process.

Innovation and partnering with clients to support their specific needs is also a key focus of the Western Junction facility, offering a complete end-to-end research and development, procurement, manufacturing, packing and despatch service at scale.

Scottsdale Ready Meal Facility

Forager Food Co’s Scottsdale facility is home to our ready-meal manufacturing facility, where we create a range of delicious and nutritious meals packaged for convenience and simplicity.

It is where we help Campers Pantry create their exciting range of homestyle and trail-ready meals for those that require a lightweight and convenient option for exploring the great outdoors.

Scottsdale is also where we create our range of risotto ready-meals, offering a quick and easy option for dinner.

Research and development is central to our Scottsdale facility, where we work alongside the Tasmanian-based Centre for Food Innovation (CFI) in collaboration with the University of Tasmania, the Commonwealth Government’s Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO), and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO).

In conjunction with these organisations, Forager Food Co. is at the cutting edge of food preservation technology and process.

State-of-the-art technology

All processing facilities are world-class and accredited with the highest standards for food manufacturing.

Forager Food Co. is at the cutting edge of extending shelf life using innovative processing and packaging technologies and can also provide research and development services to bring your product concept to market using cost-effective, sustainable, and scalable production processes.

Rare expertise

Whilst access to the right equipment and technology is essential to successful freeze-drying, it’s the people that make all the difference and at Forager Food Co, we have access to some of the best in the business.

Our technical and processing team is led by John Ranicar, founder and director of Forager Food Co. John has passionately honed his craft, with over 30 years of experience across the food and agricultural industries, including production through to manufacturing, from aquaculture to dairy and is considered one of Australia’s preeminent experts in freeze-drying process and technology.

Together with co-director Jonty Barnett, who brings an extensive background in food distribution and marketing, Forager Food Co. is committed to helping growers and food manufacturers capture the full value of their products through preservation.

Research & development

Forager Food Co. is at the cutting edge of extending shelf life using innovative processing and packaging technologies and can provide the research and development to bring your product concept to market through innovative manufacturing solutions and products that allow our customers to maximise value, access and possibility.

Innovation is central to Forager Food Co’s success, and through research partnerships via Tasmanian-based Centre for Food Innovation (CFI) in collaboration with the University of Tasmania, the Commonwealth Government’s Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO), and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Forager Food Co. is at the forefront of food preservation technology.