SOUTH Australia's leading food figures have rallied around the fallen Spring Gully Foods, saying it would be a disaster for the state if the company was allowed to collapse

Former South Australian of the Year Maggie Beer said she was devastated by the news and couldn't bring herself to contact the family.

The award-winning family business went into voluntary administration yesterday after collapsing with debts of more than $3 million, leaving the future of jobs uncertain.

Spring Gully had shared their knowledge of food processing when her company needed help, she said, and was proud to be South Australian.

"They were SA-based and doing really, really well with Australian fruit," she said.

"I'm devastated for them - a good family company that invested so much in new technology. It is just sad for SA."

Hahndorf-based jam manufacturer Beerenberg hoped the company would trade out of its difficulties.

"We may be competitors but we are all in the SA food industry together - and we'd like that to continue," managing director Anthony Paech said.

"SA is the home of a broad range of premium producers and the loss of one member of the industry diminishes us all."

Earlier today, the managing director of Spring Gully Foods made an impassioned plea for South Australians to support his company - or risk losing the iconic 60-year-old brand.

A visibly distraught Kevin Webb this morning said a tough retail environment and rising utility costs had hit the company hard - but was still at a loss to explain a sudden 60 per cent collapse in its sales.

"For some reason our sales just fell off four to five weeks ago which we're still trying to figure out," he said.

The company sells its own products and also produces goods under contract - Dick Smith jams and Ozemite make up 20 per cent of the company's sales - through the major supermarket chains.

But Mr Webb said he did not believe Coles and Woolworths were at fault.

He said the fate of the company was in the hands of its customers but the collapse raised a more serious issue.

"We ask for your support around the country, to buy the Spring Gully, Leabrook Farm, Gardener brands and support Dick Smith in his endeavours to help people like ourselves produce Australian-grown food," he said.

"If we could get that support that would help us trade through. We don't want to have all our food coming in from overseas. This country should keep producing its own food to make sure if something happens to our borders we can still feed ourselves."

He would not comment on whether changes to positioning of his products in supermarkets had contributed to the downturn in sales.

Coles issued a statement today saying it would continue to support the company.

"We are disappointed to hear that Spring Gully is in voluntary administration. They are an important supplier to Coles and we continue to buy 35 locally and nationally ranged products from them," the statement said.

"The only Coles contract Spring Gully lost was for our Coles Brand honey which switched to another Australian supplier last year. We are in touch with the administrators to see how we can continue to support the business which is still trading and ensure supply of product for our customers."

ANALYSIS: Put your money where your mouth is - support Spring Gully



The four-generation Webb family gathered together on Thursday night to support each other after appointing a voluntary administrator in an attempt to keep the business afloat.

"I grew up as a child on the side of Spring Gully Rd with my step-grandfather Ted McKee, walked up the gully, through the orchards, watched them peel onions," Mr Webb said.

"Moving down here (Dry Creek, near Port Adelaide) in 1993 was a big shift for us.

"Everyone that could (staff) came down here with us."

"It's hard for them, it's disastrous for our family."

Administrator Austin Taylor of Meertens Charted Accountants will soon hold a creditors meeting, but the business will continue to run and employ 43 people until its future is decided.

The company won a Premier's Food Award in 2011 and last year invested in a new warehousing facility to underwrite a national processing and distribution contract for Dick Smith Foods.

It has been supplying its own products under the Spring Gully, Leabrook Farms and Gardener Range brands, including gherkins, honey and jam, since 1934.

Mr Taylor yesterday said the company had lost a number of contracts with Woolworths, Coles and Aldi, leaving a major hole in its finances.

"The turnover was 60 per cent down within a few months. It is like it was delisted," he said.

"I had to ask are you being victimised by your customers?"

Spring Gully Pickles was established in 1946 in the Adelaide suburb of Rostrevor after Christmas gifts of home-grown pickled onions proved popular. It built a business that counts New Zealand and Asia-Pacific among its export markets.