TasFoods' roll-up of Tasmanian family food firms ended in voluntary administration

TasFoods, an ASX-listed Tasmanian agrifood company, went into voluntary administration on 11 March 2026, with KPMG appointed. ABC News reported that over several years the company bought a number of established family-owned food businesses and expanded them, but struggled to make a profit and sold most of them off. It sold Betta Milk in 2023 and Pyengana Dairy in 2025, and also offloaded Meander Valley Dairy. The remaining businesses included Nichols Poultry, Nichols Hatchery, Van Diemen's Land Dairy and Tasmanian Food Co Dairy.

An oversupply of chicken meat was blamed for the collapse. A private wealth adviser told ABC that a recent cash-flow report showed debt of $10.6 million, largely to NAB, and that Nichols Poultry had seen about a 20% fall in sales over 12 months while costs rose by more than 10%. He cited a $3.6 million first-half loss, and said TasFoods was probably running out of money. The company's board said it had taken 'every step it could to find a buyer' for Nichols Poultry before the filing.

Local farmers said the writing had been on the wall for two years. One chicken farmer said suppliers had had to fight tooth and nail for payment, got paid late and in bits, and was owed about $70,000 since 20 February. Nichols Poultry co-founder Andrew Nichols said the business should have stayed small rather than gone into the heights of big corporate management.

Administration of a business with 160 workers; a cash-flow report showed $10.6M of debt, mainly to NAB, and a $3.6M first-half loss, per one adviser.

TasFoods built a group by buying family-owned food companies, then struggled to turn a profit and sold most of them.

The remaining poultry business faced oversupply of chicken, with sales down about 20% while costs rose over 10%, per an adviser's estimate.

A prior attempt to sell Nichols Poultry did not succeed, and the board said it had run out of ways to find a buyer.

Suppliers reported late and partial payments for years before the administration.

Buying several family businesses and running them as a corporate group adds overhead; when the main earner (poultry) hits a downturn, there's nothing left to carry the roll-up.

KPMG said it planned to keep trading, keep the 160 workers employed with entitlements, and review options including sale and recapitalisation. Creditors were due to meet on 23 March 2026; the ABC report gave no sale outcome.