Victoria steps up effort to become food bowl to Asia

The Victorian government is stepping up its ambition to position the state as a food bowl to Asia as more than half the members of its high-powered food taskforce are preparing to spearhead a Super Trade mission to Japan and China next month.

The focus of the mission will be Victoria's lifestyle and liveability offering, emphasising its world-class food and wine, with participants from the food, beverage and agribusiness industries as well as representatives from health and aged care, ICT, sustainable urban development and tourism.

The government's food taskforce, chaired by Premier Denis Napthine, is working on developing an effective food strategy that positions Victoria's food and agriculture industries as Asia's food bowl and has the potential to drive the state's growth for decades to come.

Victorian Premier Denis Napthine will meet with leading food groups during a mission to China and Japan next month.

The taskforce, which has its second meeting next week ahead of the October mission, comprises industry leaders from across the food supply chain who have expertise in primary production, food processing, logistics, branding, investment and exporting to Asian markets.

They include Visy Industries executive chairman Anthony Pratt, CostaGroup Australia chairman Frank Costa, Bega Cheese executive chairman Barry Irvin, Kraft Foods Australia and New Zealand president Rebecca Dee-Bradbury and Grant Dooley, co-head, Asia, Hastings Fund Management and a former Australian consul-general in Guangzhou, China.

The first meeting of the taskforce was held in July and since then five separate interdepartmental taskforces have been working on a package of innovations to present to the taskforce members to help increase exports into Asia, focusing on issues such as market access, branding, skills and labour, logistics and freight and research and development across key commodities including meat, dairy and grains.

Victorian Agriculture Minister Peter Walsh said a prime focus of next month's trade mission, which will have about 250 delegates, would be market access issues for horticulture in China, especially stone fruit.

"A trip like this generates momentum in the discussion leading up to it," Mr Walsh said, noting that having politicians on the ground in the region opened doors for business.

On the Japan leg of the mission, Dr Napthine will hold a breakfast with leading Japanese food groups. Japanese food giant Kirin controls Australian brewing and beverage group Lion, which owns dairy producer National Foods.

The mission will also coincide with the 51st Japan-Australia Joint Business Conference in Tokyo. The conference will feature an agenda item on food and food security.

Dr Napthine claimed last week that the government's Southeast Asia Super Trade mission in June, the biggest to leave Australia's shores to the region, would create more than 319 jobs and $144 million in economic benefits for the state's economy.

The mission had 85 small and medium-sized food and beverage companies attend meetings with potential new customers and government officials in Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore.

The Initial Outcomes Report claimed the mission generated immediate sales of $331,110 and would generate additional sales of $35m over the next year and sales of $108m over 12 months.

Cumulatively, initial evaluations project exports of about $144m over the next two years.

The results were compiled from evaluations completed by 216 organisations that participated.

They included Essential Flavours & Ingredients, a Melbourne-based wholesale manufacturer of liquid and spray-dried flavouring products for the food and beverage industry.

This was the first time the company had participated in a Victorian government-led mission and it joined in business matching sessions in Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok marketing its product lines to major super market chains and food retailers.

As a result of the mission it expects additional export sales of $400,000 over 24 months and potentially employing six new staff.

It is also opening a sales and manufacturing facility in Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam to distribute Australian designed and produced flavour concentrations.

Another Victorian company, Gippy Milk, which produces fresh and UHT milk for export, claimed it achieved immediate export sales of $250,000 and projects plus an additional $200,000 in sales from the mission.

Almond producer Select Harvests said it anticipated additional sales of $1m. And the Gourmet Nut Company, which exports nuts to many countries across the Asia-Pacific including China, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and New Zealand, said it anticipated additional sales of $1.5m from its operations, based at Mordialloc.

An emerging Victorian baby-food manufacturer also struck a deal during the mission to put its products on the shelves of about 350 supermarkets throughout Malaysia.

Source: The Australian, 16 September 2013