Food may once again start emerging from the old Peters Ice Cream factory in South Launceston but this time with a distinctly more savoury edge.
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Awarding-winning game meat producer Lenah Meats is eyeing a spot in the mixed tenancy site for a new operating location. The operation currently resides in Rocherlea.
Lenah has been running for more than 25 years and supplies major supermarkets with wallaby and other game meats.
The business is helmed by husband and wife team John and Katrina Kelly, who have emerged in recent years as public advocates for the wider use of game meats generally.
Before the move can go ahead, however, the company needs approval from the City of Launceston council to modify the site to better fit the company's needs.
The proposed modifications include installing chillers, signage and parking accommodation. If the move goes ahead, Lenah would join several other businesses currently operating out of the large complex.
The site was parcelled off into tenancies in the years after the factory closed down and no single tenant has operated the site since.
The factory was first built by Peters Ice Cream in 1955 on what was previously a 12-acre apple orchard and quickly became somewhat of a tourist attraction in the surrounding area. In the 1960s the site also began making pies and in 1966 started producing the popular "Four'n Twenty" brand.
According to a QVMAG report compiled after the factory closed, at its peak in the 1970s, the Launceston Peters Ice Cream factory produced more than 60 varieties of ice cream and employed about 130 people. The site was also known to produce crumpets in the winter months.
By 1993, only 30 people were employed at the site and the owner - now named Peters Foods - closed the factory citing poor economics.
At the time of its closing, Allfood Distribution was set to take over the distribution of Peters Food products in Tasmania and was negotiating to buy the Launceston site.
Almost two decades later, the site is now owned by the Willjack Group. Lenah Meats' development application will be open for public comment until February 21.
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