Potato Magic faces liquidation

Administrators of the New South Wales potato chip business Potato Magic Australia recommend winding the company up and placing it into liquidation.

Potato Magic Australia, owned by Paul Rennie, one of Australia's biggest potato growers, and fruit and vegetable businessman Nick Moraitis, was placed in administration last month owing creditors hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The company was set up in 2005 and had been manufacturing a healthy alternative to potato chips called Skinns from a leased site in Griffith.

Daniel Walley, from administrator PPB Advisory, said poor chip sales and a dispute between directors have since been blamed for the company's financial demise.

"It commercialised a chip product, which went out into the market and was taken up by the supermarkets, but I'm assuming that never caught on with the public.

"When you're funding any business as a start up and there's loss making, you need to make a decision at some point about whether it's something you want to continue with.

"So it's between the two of them (the directors), you know they couldn't agree whether to put in any more money in or not and so they decided not to."

Potato Magic Australia's four full-time and 12 casual staff, who worked at the Griffith plant, were made redundant last week.

Administrators were unable to find a buyer for the business