Ahead of Friday's rally at its Ballarat factory, McCain has reiterated its support for efforts to defend its workers and suppliers against the threat of European imports.

WHAT DO YOU THINK? HAVE YOUR SAY BELOW

"The potential arrival of this product from the Northern Hemisphere would be catastrophic for our potato growers, it poses a risk to our business as a processor and the thousands of regional jobs we support," a spokesperson for the company said in a statement.

READ MORE: Region's potato industry fears impact of cheap frozen fries dumped on the market

"If hundreds of thousands of tons of frozen fries are allowed to be dumped on our market, growers may need to seek alternative crops. This means Australia's fresh potato supply is under threat.

"As an industry, we fully support our growers' campaign in the face of this unprecedented threat."

About 600 people are directly employed at the processing plant in Ballarat, with hundreds of suppliers and contractors who could also be under threat across the district, including family farms that have operated for decades.

READ MORE: Ballarat potato processors stand up for local jobs

As well as McCain representatives, workers, unions, and growers will use Friday's gathering to raise the issue with the public and call for certainty on potential imports from the federal government.

The industry is concerned European suppliers, which are attempting to offload about 2.6 million tonnes of products like frozen french fries, could undercut Australian growers and processors.

Each year Australia grows about 1.4 million tonnes of potatoes, with about 100,000 tonnes of processing potatoes grown in the Ballarat region - about 75 per cent of potatoes consumed in Australia are grown in our soil.

ALSO IN THE NEWS:

Australia also consumes the world's second highest amount of frozen potato products per capita.

However, the pandemic crisis forced the hospitality sector shut, affecting businesses across the world.

The Australian Manufacturing Workers Union has called for the federal government to block any attempt to dump cheap products - the federal government's Anti-Dumping Commission has been approached for comment.

Have you signed up to The Courier's variety of news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in Ballarat.