The Country 05/11/24: Raymond Bowan talks to Jamie Mackay

This spud farmer in Winchester, South Canterbury, is also the founder of Heartland Chips. He talks about how he went from growing potatoes for others to make potato chips, to making his own. He also celebrates his collaboration with The Country, “The Farmers Cut”.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
I'm going to kick it off with the bloke, the
man behind Heartland Chips. He's a South Canterbury spud grower
of more than fifty years experience. His name is Raymond Bowen,
and Raymond I know I'm good mates with a South
Canterbury spud grower from fifty years ago. His name is
Dick Taylor. You guys were literally next door neighbors. And

(00:21):
Dick said to me this morning, hopefully he's going to
turn up here this afternoon, because he would turn up
at the opening of an envelope. He said to me,
as a young man, you always had a dream of
having your own potato chip business. It's come true. You
set it up in twenty ten. Good afternoon, welcome to Dunedin.
Well get that a week bit closer to your mouth there.

(00:42):
Yeah right, we've got you now, ye where you go?

Speaker 2 (00:48):
Yep, thanks Jamie. Yes, I always was my dream, but
I thought it was going to run out of time
before I retired to start a Heartland chip factory out.
But it's so.

Speaker 1 (01:00):
You spent a lot of your life growing potatoes for
other people to make into potato chips, and I guess
it's a natural progression to cut out the middleman. But
it must have been fraught with danger. You wouldn't have
been a young man when you took on this challenge.
And I know you've got support from your family. Your wife,
Adrian's here, Charlotte and James, your son and daughter here,

(01:23):
they're part of the family business as well.

Speaker 2 (01:25):
Yes, sir, No, it was actually sixty when I stabbed
at off and I thought, well do I do it
or do I not? And we had to put a
lot on the line to actually kick it off, so
the farm had to back it. So in the family supportive.
So here we are.

Speaker 1 (01:39):
So how do you break your way into the potato
chip business in New Zealand because I'd imagine, in fact
I know that it's dominated by big national and multinational players.

Speaker 2 (01:50):
Well, we knew it was like that. We had to
have a point of different so and we did have
a few point of difference. We weren't using pam oil
and we were gluten free, and we had quite a
story from Paddick to packet, So we had a good
man that actually penetrated the supermarkets for us to get

(02:13):
a start, and that's why it started. Really well, it
wasn't easier.

Speaker 1 (02:18):
I can imagine it's a good way to value add
or take on the value chain yourself. Is there any
money these days and growing spuds just to grow spuds?

Speaker 2 (02:28):
Well, not, as it's not as good as it was
when we first started years ago, about thirty odd years ago.
There was good money in it, but costs have come
up and it's not as easy as it was.

Speaker 1 (02:39):
And i've been We filmed a video a few months
ago on your place in South canterburye just north of Temuka,
the Winchester region. There beautiful flat farmland, wonderful potato growing area.
But I note that your farm you're basically surrounded by
dairy farms. The Fonterra Clandy Boy site is just down
the road or towards the coast from your farm. So

(03:01):
were you not were you attempted to go dairying or
you just a spud man? No.

Speaker 2 (03:05):
I was brought up on a dairy farmer father and
a dairy farm with two brothers, both carried on dairy farming.
But I like the other agricultural side of it. So
that's when I started the gray potatoes when I was eighteen.

Speaker 1 (03:18):
So we've got Sultan vinegar, green onion and maple bacon.
Are the three potato chip flavors that we've paired with
Emerson's Farmer's Poor Beer, which is an extra crispy pale
ale of those. What's your favorite? Because I'm a sulten
vinegar man, but I must say I've taken a lighting

(03:39):
to the green onion.

Speaker 2 (03:40):
No, I quite like the Sultan vinegar. Yeah that I
will eat them all, but for three of them.

Speaker 1 (03:46):
All right, Hey, Raymond, I know you've got a lot
of people to mix and mingle with here at this launch.
By the way, if you're anywhere within Cowey of Dunedin,
Emerson's what a great place to come and have lunch.
Because lunch, Raymond, and I don't know if you've had yet.
I haven't because it's not a good idea to eat
before broadcasting. But we've got the Farmer's Poor Beer, and

(04:06):
we've got the glorious chip sandwich, white bread butter potato
chips dip and then another slab of white bread on top.
It couldn't get any better.

Speaker 2 (04:15):
I've already had two of those, so they're very tasty,
good stuff, Hey, Raymond.

Speaker 1 (04:20):
Thank you to Heartland Chips for this wonderful collaboration.