This year has been one of highs and lows for Orange-based dip business, Fresh Fodder due to the changes brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Owner Max Schofield said 30 per cent of distribution is to Victoria, particularly in Melbourne, although some suppliers of his dip range are based in regional areas.
As a result, he said a large section of suppliers, including IGA supermarkets, mum and dad fruit shops, delicatessens, cafes and a couple of restaurants, have been affected by the recent coronavirus outbreak.
"To be honest, we are in one of the fortunate positions, 85 per cent of our business is to retailers like supermarkets, fruit shops and delicatessens," Mr Schofield said.
"In the last 10 days we saw a down turn in Melbourne.
"In the last week we have seen a just over a 10 per cent drop in retail."
However, he said before that the business was going well.
"We have found that people haven't been able to go out to restaurants so they are entertaining more at home," Mr Schofield said.
"For restaurants and cafes it's pretty dire."
However, Mr Schofield said the business did require Job Keeper to keep running through April but due to the more recent success he was unsure if it will qualify for the next round.
"The month of April we saw just under a 40 per cent drop on the previous year," he said.
"People were just buying staples.
"May we started to see a steady increase and by June we were powering along.
"It looks like we are on our way down."
While Melbourne is seeing a drop in retail sales due to its coronavirus lock-down, Mr Schofield said sales in NSW have flattened out since the initial increase.
Although there is uncertainty about what will happen with the spread of COVID-19 from the lastest outbreak in Sydney, Mr Schofield said he is not looking to off-load any of his 25 staff.
Mr Schofield said the business started in a garage 12 years ago and as well as distributing a range of dips it also produces soups from March to September.
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