EXCLUSIVE Inside the crash of Mr Potato empire - as staff reveal the chaos that saw workers rely on UBER EATS for vital ingredients

Daily Mail​

a day ago

A teenage worker left jobless by the failed Mr Potato fast food chain has described the chaotic months leading up to her store's closure and the business's total collapse.
Maggie - not her real name - worked for Mr Potato at Newtown in Sydney 's inner-west from last year until the store finally closed its doors in late June.
She watched on as basic ingredients for popular menu items had to be bought from Woolworths via Uber Eats because the usual suppliers had not been paid.
Mr Potato had also stopped paying for its garbage to be collected and rubbish piled up outside the shop, while employees such as Maggie are still owed wages.
When Maggie took a job at the Newtown store 'it was pretty normal for most of the time' but she soon realised there were 'issues paying people'.
One manager left, and the operation began falling apart when its founders, Miss Universe entrant Jess Davis and her basketballer husband Tyson Hoffman, took over running the store.
'It just became clear that they didn't really know what they were doing,' Maggie said.
Before the closed sign went up at the King Street premises - Mr Potato's only outlet in Sydney - Davis and Hoffman went on a marathon food truck tour around Australia.
Franchisees were left facing bankruptcy when Mr Potato went into liquidation on July 4 after the Australian Tax Office brought wind-up action over a $150,000 debt.
Phil Robinson of Deloitte was appointed as the Adelaide-based company's liquidator during a deliberation which took less than two minutes to be heard.
Davis and Hoffman - also known as Tyson Finau - established Mr Potato in 2018 to capitalise on what they saw as a gap in the market for healthy fast food with a 'modern spin' on baked potatoes.
Hoffman, who had played for the 36ers NBL team, suggested the idea of selling spuds loaded with savoury toppings to his then-fiancée as 'a joke' a few weeks after they began dating.
Mr Potato grew from the first Adelaide store to other locations in South Australia before expanding into Queensland, with plans in 2022 to open 20 more restaurants across the nation.
The Newtown store opened in April 2023 but there were clear signs the Mr Potato business was in big trouble later that year.
By October 2023, Gold Coast franchises at Palm Beach, Upper Coomera and Mermaid Waters had gone bust and were taken over by head office in Adelaide.
The number of franchises had fallen from 13 to just four by June this year, as Davis and Hoffman spent much of their time on their national tour promoting the brand.
Davis sparked controversy earlier this year when she posted on Instagram her intention to seek investors for a $4million tropical resort.
She and Hoffman acquired a 100-hectare slice of beachfront land on the Tongan island of Nomuka where they planned to build an 'eco resort', dubbed Oseni.
According to the couple's Instagram, their plans for the resort included '30 private, luxurious and eco-friendly villas' on the remote beach.
The couple also intended to build a seaplane wharf to help ferry guests from mainland Tonga to the island getaway.
At the Newtown store, Maggie said the first time she was paid late was in November last year but only by a day so she wasn't particularly worried.
When a shift leader resigned, she was left to open the restaurant on her own despite having never been trained to do so.
Davis and Hoffman were acting as the store managers from December until late January and commenced their Mr Potato road trip in March.
'It became clear that they must have been struggling with the financial side of things,' Maggie said.
'We would start getting different suppliers than usual and we would start getting more and more emergency deliveries on most stocks.
'And then they decided that the best option to deal with all of this was to start a food truck.'
In February, Davis and Hoffman threw a lavish Christmas party for their staff, hiring a yacht for a fully-catered cruise on Sydney Harbour, followed by Uber rides to karaoke.
'We were all kind of like, "What? How are you doing this? How are you paying for this?"' said Maggie.
Daily Mail Australia has seen staff WhatsApp group messages from about March in which staff noted ingredients were being ordered from Woolworths every day and the 'run out list is getting longer'.
One list of products not in stock featured two types of cheese, bacon, chipotle, mayonnaise, beans, jalapeno, beetroot, roasted peppers, vegan butter, lentils, hummus and tomato sauce.
Maggie's pay was by then coming a couple of days late but other employees - international students - were waiting longer.
'They were still on tour,' Maggie said of Davis and Hoffman. 'And it quickly went downhill because they weren't contactable as much.
'Eventually we kept getting banned from our suppliers for not paying them. So we had to get the majority of our stock from Coles and Woolworths on Uber Eats.
'We kept getting into trouble with the council because we had the bins out the back, but they weren't paying for the bins to be picked up.'
Easter brought more pay delays, including for lucrative public holidays.
Maggie complained to Hoffman in a WhatsApp group chat in which she wrote: 'It's just disrespectful. A fortnight late? Come on.'
Hoffman responded with an 'insane' message Maggie found 'a little bit threatening'.
'Obviously it's a tough time financially for us,' he wrote.
'Options are either we close the store and no one even has a job, any income or we find the solutions to keep things going.
'Anyone that thinks we have an immediate solution, is unfortunately incorrect. I do have solutions to make this never happen again. But they take time.
This social media user and baked potato fan was unimpressed by the offerings at Mr Potato
'We have large funds landing any day now so we can ensure this doesn't happen again.
'We will remember who's on our team and who's not.'
That pay problem was resolved but wages were late again in May and Maggie had had enough. Word began spreading the ATO was circling Mr Potato but Davis and Hoffman said nothing to staff.
On June 26, Hoffman said in another group WhatsApp message the store would be closing 'for a few days', from that Friday to Sunday.
'We're currently waiting on some funds that are due to land on Monday,' Hoffman wrote.
'Once received, we'll be able to fully restock the store and resume normal trade from Tuesday. Apologies for the recent sporadic ordering and stock levels.
'In the meantime, please enjoy a well-deserved short break. Pays will be processed and in your accounts tomorrow.'
On July 1, after repeated requests from staff for their pay, Hoffman responded on WhatsApp.
'At this stage, we won't be reopening the store,' he wrote. 'We know how hard this is to hear, and it's incredibly difficult for us to say.
'Jess and I have poured absolutely everything we have into Mr Potato - our time, our energy, our hearts.
'We've fought so hard to keep things going, and while we don't plan to give up, the reality is we're in a very tough spot right now. '
Hoffman revealed 'all of our other sites have either stopped trading or are still open but no longer paying us'.
'We're still exploring options, but we feel it's only fair to be transparent and not leave you all waiting in limbo,' he wrote.
'As painful as it is to say, we encourage you to look for other employment.
'In regards to wages and super, we're doing absolutely everything in our power to make sure everyone is paid. We don't have a clear timeline, but we promise to update you the moment we have more information.
'We're truly sorry. Thank you for everything you've given to Mr Potato - it's meant the world to us.'
Maggie has heard nothing more from Hoffman since then and remains owed about $1,100 in wages. She said some of her ten or so workmates - as young as 15 - are owed much more.
In a statement to Daily Mail Australia, Hoffman previously insisted: 'Each store is responsible for its own financial obligations to suppliers.'
'At Mr Potato, we remain committed to transparency, franchisee success, and the strength of our brand.
'Business performance varies due to multiple factors, and we encourage all franchisees to conduct thorough due diligence before making financial commitments.
'We care deeply about our franchisees and want them to succeed. We provide support not only in business but also in navigating the various challenges that life presents.
'Like any business, the success of a franchise ultimately depends on the business management, effort, and execution of the individual franchisee.'