Dinkum Foods director Adam Pearce said they had been able to cancel most orders of perishable foods on late notice after his extended family woke up on Thursday to learn the AFL was relocating both Sydney clubs to the Gold Coast.

In what had been a short turnaround, the AFL had only locked in Ballarat for the Sydney derby on Monday afternoon, following a successful extra game at Ballarat's Mars Stadium a day earlier.

Mr Pearce said a lot of hard work from a lot of Ballarat people went into getting the stadium match-ready and to showcase what regional Victoria could offer. He said while the Sydney clash had been a bonus, there had been a lot of interest in people wanting to see Sydney Swans star Lance 'Buddy' Franklin up close in action.

"We're only a small business on weekdays and work to gear up for the weekends," Mr Pearce said.

"One of the hardest parts is finding an additional 30 workers at a moment's notice but they were all enthusiastic...It's the uncertainty of it all. People have been fantastic though in asking, 'how can we help?' and getting our food vans out to their workplaces."

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Mr Pearce said it had been a tough blow for the company, which holds the AFL contract for Mars Stadium, to have gone almost 18 months without certain major events. He was particularly concerned about the impact should the AFL be forced to move home tenant Western Bulldogs' scheduled game against Adelaide next week.

Dinkum Foods had been hoping to sell the bulk of its doughnuts at the weekend trash and treasure market next door to Mars Stadium until lockdown laws tightened. The doughnuts' fate has become unclear.

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