Spring Gully on the hunt for investors

Struggling South Australian pickles and preserves company Spring Gully has postponed a creditors meeting to buy more time to negotiate with interested investors.

The food processing business, which went into voluntary administration in April, was to announce a formal recommendation on how to proceed with the business on Friday last week.

However the company sought court approval for a deferral of this meeting until early July to enable ongoing negotiations with potential investors.

Spring Gully, which owes unsecured creditors more than $3 million and has bank debt of around $7 million, has also been in negotiations with the major supermarket chains.

Coles awarded a new national contract for its Coles brand pickled onions to the company soon after it was placed into administration, and the company has also made extra sales to Aldi and the Foodland/IGA group.

Spring Gully has blamed a sudden dip in supermarket sales for its predicament, but ever since the news broke of its financial problems, it has experienced unprecedented demand for its products.

At the time, Spring Gully managing director Kevin Webb called on South Australians to support his company, and customers responded by emptying the retail shelves of the company's product, trebling its sales.

To meet the demand, and to meet its new distribution deals, the company has had to employ more people and move to a two-shift operation for the next three months, in order to boost production by up to 50 per cent.