Our History
Tuscany Farms Pty Ltd, was formed in 1975 and was purchased by Garry Jennings in 1980. Tuscany Farms commenced its early productions on a 40 acre property with several poultry sheds with a combined capacity of 55,000 birds, where it serviced the consumer market producing shelled eggs. It was in 1984 due to the uncertainty with the egg marketing authority, licensing and political intervention into the industry, that Garry shelved the Tuscany Farms operation and joined his father as General Manager of the family business `Dynamic Lifter’. Dynamic Lifter was soon developed into the best known fertilizer with a vast range of products used by home gardeners, green keepers, orchardists, market gardeners and farmers in Australia, USA, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, India and various Middle East countries. The domestic operations and technology of Dynamic Lifter, was sold to Arthur Yates in March 1995, at which time Garry devoted his full attention to re-starting the Tuscany Farms operation.
In 1995 Joe Schembri joined Tuscany Farms as Garry’s business partner and with a wealth of knowledge and experience in the poultry industry proved Joe as a valuable asset to the business. Whilst Tuscany Farms had been absent from the market for a lengthy period, the industry had undergone major reforms and the N.S.W. Poultry and Licensing Scheme had been abolished by the State Government, leaving fewer, larger (and more competitive) egg producers to supply the shelled eggs market. This forced a review of the company’s strategy and direction, resulting in an investment in a l
arge farming facility with holding capacity of 100,000 hens which was purchased from Steggles. This coupled with a production plant, gave the company a solid foundation on which the business moved into value adding egg pulp products to support and supply the Food Industry. Tuscany Farms newest operations entailed a range of liquid handling pasteurisation and filling equipment systems. The plant facilities consisted of collection vats to receive egg liquids, coolers to reduce the temperature of yolk, albumen or whole egg liquid, egg pumps and filters to remove egg shells and impurities. Tuscany Farms new ancillary equipment meant that it could now provide the flexibility to produce specialty products incorporating salt, sugar and other additives.
In 1995, Tuscany Foods was registered as the trading name of Tuscany Farms.
Tuscany Farms acquired a property which has become a key farming location for the business in Sydney’s northwest. In what started out in 1998 as just a block of acreage, Tuscany Farms over the last 10 years has transformed it into one of the largest farming facilities in Australia with a holding capacity of 350,000 layer hens with a production well over 2.5 million plus eggs per week. With modernized, fully automated `state of the art’ technology, our plant and equipment makes production easy with outstanding performance.
Tuscany Farms incorporates frozen, chilled and blast freezing facilities in its operations to ensure that perishable items like egg liquid, dairy goods, meats, and specialty goods are preserved. This convenient method of freezing or chilling the product protects our goods from spoilage. Tuscany Farms became part owner of Prospect Cold Stores in 1999. This complex has 12 separate units of various sizes, self contained with offices. The site is Aquis approved, most of these units are rented out to food processors, but it also allows Tuscany Foods the option to expand its storage of goods into these units. Fresh Pasteurized Egg Pulp is loaded into blast freezers at minus 40 degrees C.
With key export goals in focus, Tuscany Farms took the initiative to go on a global scale in 2000 giving many countries the access to affordable, high quality Australian goods.
New addition Ben Bouchet joined in 2002, and became General Manager of Swaggmans Specialty Foods as well as Tuscany Fresh, two unique divisions of Tuscany Farms. Tuscany Fresh, manufactures and supports industrial, food service and QSR markets, with a range of shredded value added cheese products. Swaggman’s Specialty Foods, supports numerous blue chip manufacturers, distributors and major quick service restaurants (YUM, SUBWAY, McDonalds) with a range of value added products.
Early 2009 seen the opening of Tuscany Farms latest division, Tuscany Chocolates. Our new facilities dedicated to chocolate manufacturing, offers a range of premium quality chocolate products to the food industry and food service sector.
Tuscany Farms today is one of Australia’s largest suppliers to the food industry and food service sector. With interests in domestic and international customers, Tuscany Farms is willing to deliver its vast range of quality products anywhere across the globe