Thousands of people visit the famous Peanut Van at Kingaroy and Childers each year picking out their favourites and trying new ones.
But little did owners Rob and Chris Patch realise that one of those regular customers would help them land a deal with supermarket chain, IGA.
“About June last year we were sitting here and it was a knock on the door type of thing and the four IGA buyers came in,” Mr Patch said.
“One fellow came from Bundaberg and he has been driving up and down buying peanuts off the van at Childers for seven years and he said are you interested in supplying IGA?
“He said I don’t care what flavours it is as long as it’s curry because that’s his favourite.”
Packets of their Kingaroy Flavoured Peanuts have now hit the shelves of Queensland stores with IGA customers as far as Western Australia now calling for supplies to reach them too.
While their IGA products have a different name the peanuts are all cooked in their Kingaroy factory with ten flavours on offer including hickory smoke, curry, BBQ, mexican and tangy lime.
The couple transitioned their business to cook in bulk about two years ago when they were asked to supply peanuts to a company associated with Coles.
The large demand for supply saw them go from cooking a few kilograms an hour to up to half a tonne and install a new machine that can package 50 bags per minute.
Mrs Patch said they didn’t want people to think The Peanut Van would be forgotten with their new venture.
“People were getting worried and saying what about The Peanut Van, it wont do as well but it hasn't affected it.
“A lot of people here in Kingaroy have probably lived here all their life and never been (to The Peanut Van) but now they go shopping at IGA.
“If you go to The Peanut Van you get the real tourist experience.”
“The IGA goes until 7 or 8pm at night so that’s another couple of hours they are buying peanuts,” Mr Patch added.
Salted Caramel is proving to be the most popular flavour and the couple now have their sights set on expanding to national IGA stores.
Mr Patch said the deal had the potential to be a major boost for the Australian peanut industry.
“If we can get up and go national it will mean lots of assurance of peanuts,”he said.
“The thing is when Australia can’t grow it (the peanuts) some of those in the likes of Sydney and Melbourne they just buy anything and call it peanuts but now if we can get it out as Kingaroy flavoured peanuts people are going to say, ‘I can trust them’.”
Lucy Kinbacher
Raised on a cattle property at Biggenden, Lucy Kinbacher has spent 10 years working across metropolitan, regional and rural publications in both Queensland and NSW. Lucy has been the editor of the Queensland Country Life and North Queensland Register since 2021.
Raised on a cattle property at Biggenden, Lucy Kinbacher has spent 10 years working across metropolitan, regional and rural publications in both Queensland and NSW. Lucy has been the editor of the Queensland Country Life and North Queensland Register since 2021.
