Nourishing the body and community
The ready-made meal renaissance is underway in Logan, with more than 20 million meals – think sticky teriyaki beef, gooey mac and cheese and slow-cooked lamb shanks – being prepared by Snapfresh every year.
This Crestmead-based business has emerged as Australia’s leading manufacturer of ready-made meals, with award-winning chefs that serve customers locally and around the world.
Most recently, the business was celebrated as the winner of the 2022 Logan Business Distinction Award in manufacturing and construction.
Retail Sales Manager Matthew Igo Ball says Snapfresh was first established in 2001 by Qantas to supply high quality, consistent and safe meals to domestic passengers.
‘We now also serve other industries like retail, health and corporate and can produce more than 80,000 meals per day,’ he says.
The business, located on Magnesium Drive, is situated among other thriving local businesses like Beenleigh Steel Fabrications and The Cryogenics Group.
Matthew says it was excellent forethought to pick Crestmead as home base.
‘We picked this location because of its high growth potential,’ he says.
‘We were the second business on the street, and we’ve seen remarkable growth in the area over the last 22 years.’
The business itself has been one of the driving forces for Crestmead’s rise as an industrial powerhouse.
Its most recent innovation is the Snapfresh vending machine, which provides piping hot ready-to-eat meals or chilled options that can be microwaved later.
‘Before 2020, the aviation industry accounted for 98 per cent of our clientele,’ Matthew says.
‘The pandemic brought everything to a standstill and our revenue fell by 95 per cent over night, so we had to diversify and repurpose our meals for new industries to service.
‘We found great success in healthcare and retail, and we continue to service them today while the airline industry has bounced back.’
Snapfresh has also been a corporate social responsibility success story because of its local hiring practices and community-first strategy.
Eco-friendly initiatives like organic waste composting, adopting BPA-free recycled packaging and LED light installation has dramatically reduced landfill, carbon emissions and electricity use.
The business also donates single portion meals to feed those in need.
‘We are a part of the Logan community and it is only right to give back to the community that has supported us over the past 22 years,’ Matthew says.
Trailblazing continues to be the status quo at Snapfresh as the business plans to convert more industries to frozen meals and identify new green business opportunities.
Learn more on the Snapfresh website.
