Agriculture, food and beverage businesses and exporters in Western Australia can now access new resources to support them get ‘investor ready’.

DPIRD has developed the Investment Readiness Resources for small and medium sized agriculture, food and beverage businesses to attract and secure investment.

DPIRD Investment Services manager Susan Hall said the Investor Readiness resources built on the department’s successful master class and webinar series delivered in 2020.

She said businesses could dig into topics including business growth planning and valuation, cash flow management, investor readiness, legal and business structures and sourcing funds.

“Attracting capital is critical to support the industry to reach its potential, and grow the WA economy,” Ms Hall said.

“A recent AgriFutures report found there was an information gap inhibiting smaller businesses from attracting and securing investment, as the sector strives to grow its value to $100 billion by 2030 (from $63 billion in 2016-17).

“Some of the key barriers were insufficient information for potential investors, management time to attract investors and negotiate terms, and business not seen as ‘investor ready’."  More...  Source:  DPIRD  |  Photo:  iStock

Western Australia's agrifood producers and exporters should be constantly reviewing their activities to see how new technologies may help them better connect with customers, collaborate with employees and streamline online marketing.

A new report released this week from AgriFutures Australia – based on a study Australian National University – said that to remain internationally competitive, Australia's rural sector must increase its use of technology.

The Australian Government's business website recommends a range of digital tools and software to help improve businesses, including increasing efficiency, operating more securely or finding new opportunities.

Small businesses can spend many hours each week on paperwork and other operational tasks, taking time away from more productive areas of running and growing a business.

Going digital could reduce administration and make businesses more efficiencient and profitable. It can increase security of customer information and may also improve business continuity following significant operational change.

Marketing tools and platforms can help conduct online promotion and retailing, streamlining the delivery of targeted messages to customers, to help achieve business goals.  Source and Photo:  business.gov.au

Agriculture is the next frontier for space tech, with billion-dollar opportunities to super-charge technology adoption for farmers, fishers and foresters over the next five to ten years.

That’s according to a new report by AgriFutures Australia, commissioned to give producers awareness of the depth and breadth of available space technologies, the potential uses and insights into what is coming over the next decade.

The report says Australia's rural sector will need to keep across advances in the rapidly developing space sector if it hopes to remain internationally competitive.

The Australian National University study, Space-based technologies – opportunities for the rural sector, found that improvements to geolocation alone could benefit Australian agriculture by $2.2 billion over a 30-year period, and satellite connectivity could add $15.6 billion to gross value of production across agriculture, fisheries and forestry industries each year.

While these are big numbers, space technologies are already making their mark. Producers are routinely using satellite imaging, low bandwidth sensors, GPS tracking, autosteer, paddock level imagery and weather forecasting to drive better decision making.  Source and Photo:  AgriFutures Australia

As the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region continues to look towards economic integration within a post-pandemic setting, Austrade provides up-to-date market insights for agriculture, food and beverage in the area. Pertaining to Western Australian exporters specifically:

Meat (Beef and Pork)

• There's an increase in beef consumption, with changing consumer patterns in a number of countries and frequent online purchasing. Thailand in particular is showing this change, with more of the population choosing to cook at home and increased beef consumption in younger demographics.
• The African Swine flu has caused instability in a few ASEAN markets. Western Australian exporters – typically supplying the domestic and Singapore market – may look to Vietnam and Philippines in the short-to-medium term for alternate opportunities.
• There has been concerted effort by supermarket groups to expand, notably in Thailand and Malaysia. With plans to upscale and implement sophisticated online retail spaces, The Mall Group (Thailand) and NSK (Malaysia) are looking to showcase premium imported food items, including meat products from Australia.

Premium Products: Seafood, Dairy and Horticulture

• ASEAN supermarket chains are seeking to adopt a more global image to engage their increasingly cosmopolitan populations. All countries host opportunities for seafood and aquaculture industries (particularly Thailand and Malaysia), as well as dairy and wine.
• A turn to healthier foodstuffs, fresh fruit and vegetables, in close ASEAN neighbour Indonesia, can benefit growers and producers in WA.

For further assistance, please contact Austrade.  More  Source: Austrade  |  Photo: Annie Spratt/Unsplash

Join this free webinar and hear from Austrade’s ASEAN team from Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines on:

• The current state of play in these markets.
• Key insights and information on how the Australian Government is supporting Australian agrifood exporters impacted by trade disruptions to upscale and diversify their businesses across new international markets.

Register here for this webinar which is part of an Austrade series of international market updates for agrifood exporters being held in 2021.  Source and Photo:  Austrade