Since April 2020 the International Freight Assistance Mechanism (IFAM) has been reconnecting global air links and keeping critical supply chains open to our key markets.  

While IFAM has been extended to the end of September this year, the very clear messaging is that businesses – particularly those reliant on airfreight – need to adjust their business models and act now to ensure ongoing viability under the new 'normal' conditions.

DPIRD has been assisting industry to make such adjustments and, as previously advised, Tigers International Solutions is commencing a ‘Less than a Container Load' (LCL) trial service between Fremantle and Singapore, with the first ship departing next Friday 9 April 2021, with cut-off for delivery at Tigers at noon the previous day.  The first container will be set at minus one degree Celsius. 

The service will cost a fraction of the current airfreight cost and exporters interested in using this service can either contact their current freight forwarder, or Jason Radford (jason.radford@go2tigers.com) at Tigers for shipping schedules and rates.

Tigers will be offering a plus 3 degrees Celsius trial service from Fremantle to Singapore in the week beginning 26 April, subject to demand.

The success of this LCL trial is based on feedback and Tigers will look at all viable options from Fremantle.  Feel free to discuss volumes, temperature settings and required future destinations with your freight forwarder or Jason Radford at Tigers.  Source:  DPIRD / IFAM / Tigers  |  Photo: Fremantle Ports

India will be an attractive trade partner for Australia in the coming years, as the country regains pre-COVID rates of growth, Austrade reports in its latest economic analysis.

Rates are expected to improve rapidly as the world adjusts to a post-pandemic 'normal', with the London-based Economic Intelligence Unit predicting an annual average growth rate of 5.8% between 2021 and 2040.

Home to 1.3 billion people and hosting an expanding middle class, the country presents a huge potential export market for Australian businesses. 

“We are positioned to do very well,” says Ashley Brosnan, Manager of Economics and Analysis at Austrade. “In addition to the pre-existing friendly political ties between our nations, the Australia-India Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement will over time be able to support expansion in the area.”

The coordinated strategy – which is projected to extend to 2035 –will concentrate efforts in the required areas, such as supply chain resiliency, trade diversification and market literacy. 

Export value of Western Australian products to India reached $404.2 million in 2019-20, with raw wool the largest agricultural commodity at $29.1 million. Processed oats and raw oats followed at $8.5 and $2 million respectively. Burgeoning markets projected to do well in the future are wine and processed health-food products, as India’s middle class expands. 

To find out more about trade opportunities with India, please visit Austrade's Exporting to India trade profile.  More...  Source:  Austrade  |  Photo:  Julian Yu / Unsplash

At the recent Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences Outlook 2021 Conference, the results of a project funded by the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (FRDC) were presented that analysed how COVID-19 affected the seafood industry in Australia, with the aim of using this knowledge to prepare the sector for future shocks.

The research team from the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies found that the overall impacts of COVID-19 have been asymmetric, with sectors supplying domestic retail markets mostly able to prosper, while producers selling into export markets and the domestic dine-in food service sector were often brought to their knees.  The report also highlighted how Government support measures assisted the seafood industry weather some of the negative impacts on profitability and business continuity.

As a sector relying on natural resources, the seafood industry is familiar with, and has had to deal with, many environmental shocks and other disruptions outside its control, but market shocks are far less common and have never been as pervasive as the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The FRDC report provides a reference point for further impact analysis and highlights future research needed to improve early warning systems and the diagnostic capacity of our seafood industry, should future market disruption occur.  Source:  FRDC  |  Photo:  DPIRD

Registrations to participate in the World Fisheries Congress 2021 (WFC2021) are now open.

Hosted in Adelaide, South Australia, from 20 to 24 September, this year’s event is expected to attract more than 1500 delegates from around the world to participate both in-person and online.

WFC2021 will bring together global fisheries experts across research, industry and management and showcase the latest technological advances in marine and freshwater fisheries.

Sustainability, conservation and fisheries management are global fisheries issues, and WFC2021 will provide an international platform to explore these issues, which is reflected in the congress theme of 'sharing our oceans and rivers – a vision for the world's fisheries'.

Don’t miss this opportunity to be part of one of the world’s largest gathering of fisheries experts.  Source and Graphic:  WFC2021

The Food and Beverage National Manufacturing Priority road map has been launched under the Modern Manufacturing Initiative which identifies key areas of opportunity and actions for government and industry to work together to lift manufacturing capability.

Australia has an international reputation for producing premium, safe and high-quality food and beverage products. Close proximity to Asian markets and a reputation as a trusted supplier of premium goods has led to the food and beverage sector becoming a major manufacturing sector for the Australian economy.

There are opportunities to bring food and beverage manufacturers together to:

• Manage the development of new products for emerging markets.
• Translate research into commercial applications.
• Manufacture locally and export more high-value products to overseas markets.

Businesses with projects focused on food and beverage supply chains can apply for grants under the Modern Manufacturing Initiative in the Manufacturing Translation stream and the Manufacturing Integration stream.  Applications are open until 3 pm AWST on 27 April 2021.

For any questions regarding the Modern Manufacturing Initiative, please email mis@industry.gov.au for the Integration stream and mts@industry.gov.au for the Translation stream.  Source and Photo:  Department of Industry

The ninth year of the annual Farmer On Your Plate event took place in Perth on Thursday last week, bringing the country to the city and connecting consumers to farmers and local food producers.

Celebrating and showcasing family farming, agri-tourism and rural communities, the event hosted by Farming Champions, led by Nicola Kelliher, and supported by DPIRD's Buy West Eat Best team, great champions of WA grown produce.

Visitors to the event – including Hon Kim Beazley AC, Governor of Western Australia, and Ralph Addis, DPIRD's Director General, who both come from farming backgrounds – were treated to farm fresh produce, opportunities to meet farming families, cooking demonstrations and sampling, farming animals, entertainment and more. More... Source and Photo:  Farmer on Your Plate [Chef Lucas Fernandes is using Mount Barker Chicken to share a Thai inspired recipe.]

Despite COVID-19 restrictions and lockdowns, consumer demand for plant-based meat products in Australia – such as meat-free burgers, sausages and ready meals – grew exponentially last year, according to th latest State of the Industry report from Food Frontier with modelling by Deloitte Access Economics.

Retail sales surged 46 percent in the year to June 2020, with the number of new jobs more than doubling in the emerging sector, and manufacturing revenues increasing from $35 million to nearly $70 million.

The report also reveals that national retailers doubled the number of plant-based meat products on Australian grocery shelves last year to more than 200. This expansion of plant-based meat product ranges caters to growing consumer interest, as evidenced by the one-third of Australians who are limiting their meat consumption.

Australia’s plant-based meat companies are eyeing export opportunities and will be watching demand trends overseas closely, while some, including Fable Food Co, Fenn Foods and v2food, have already launched into Singapore, Japan, Korea and other Asian markets.

Australia has the agricultural capacity, commercial appetite and research know-how to become an international leader in new protein industries including plant-based meat. To not make the early investments necessary to leverage these unique strengths would be a missed opportunity.  Source:  Deloitte Access Economics / Food Frontier |  Related:  Tonight, I'll be having cultivated meat with a side salad  Source: UNSW  |  Photo:  Food Frontier