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10 October 2023
Western Australian
agrifood export eNews
Western Australia's valued Buy West Eat Best initiative celebrates its 15-year milestone this month, making it the nation's longest-running voluntary state-of-origin food labelling program.
Buy West Eat Best began in 2008 and has provided customers with trusted food labelling for premium food and beverages that are grown, farmed, fished, processed, prepared and served right here in WA.
The program, delivered by the WA Government, has grown from 38 founding members to around 240 members, from a diverse range of businesses and brands across the State's entire food and beverage supply chain.
The distinctive bite-mark logo has become a trusted identity for WA produce on retail shelves, restaurant menus and stores, making it easier for shoppers to choose to buy local.
October is Buy West Eat Best month – a time to remind all Western Australians to think local, buy local and eat local – and is marked by a series of local food events, in-store retail promotions and member-driven marketing campaigns.
Milestone events this month include a Parliamentary celebration with founding program members and Meet the Buyer, the state's biggest and most diverse trade show exhibition of WA food and beverage businesses. The event will be hosted at Crown Perth on 24 October 2023.
More information about the program is available from www.buywesteatbest.org.au
Source: WA Government | Image: Buy West Eat Best | Related: Buy West Eat Best Feature Source: The West Australian
Western Australian barley is helping to quench the thirst of beer drinkers in Vietnam, which is recognised for its strong and sophisticated beer culture. As part of a recent trade mission to the country, Agriculture and Food Minister Jackie Jarvis visited a Vietnamese brewery, that uses WA's finest malting barley.
The visit provided a unique opportunity to strengthen government and industry connections and unlock new economic opportunities for WA and Vietnamese businesses.
The Minister also met with Intermalt, which is the largest malting facility in Southeast Asia and is part owned by WA-based CBH Group. The malting facility is a key supplier to some of Vietnam's largest brewers of international beers and imports much of its barley from Australia.
In 2022-23, WA exported 352,000 tonnes of barley to Vietnam valued at $139 million, up by 50,000 tonnes on the previous year.
Minister Jarvis said Vietnam is consistently one of the largest buyers of WA barley, and their developing taste for craft beers is good news for our growers. More...
Source and Photo: WA Minister for Agriculture and Food
2023 WA Agtech Meetup
The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development is supporting the WA Agtech Meetup October 2023 focusing on carbon – the why, the how and the role for tech.
You will hear from innovative producers leading the charge on tech adoption, as well as agtech providers delivering impactful solutions for the industry.
The event will begin with Agriculture Innovation Australia Consultant (AIA) Agi Reefman talking about the AIA Environmental Accounting Platform, followed by a panel discussion with:
- Toby Wright, Head of Sustainability, CBH.
- Sam Brown, Chief Executive Officer, AIA.
- Glenn Briggs, National Business Development Manager, Aglytica.
For those attending in person, this will be an opportunity to catch up and network over some nibbles and drinks after the event, which will be hosted at Base @ FLUX Perth at 191 St George's Terrace, Perth.
If you can't make it in person, make sure you register for the live stream (live stream details will be shared after registration).
When: Thursday 12 October 2023.
Time: 5 pm to 7 pm (AWST), content from 5:30 pm.
Cost: Free.
Places are limited so please register now. The event powered by Beanstalk Agtech and AgriFutures Australia.
Source and Image: Beanstalk Agtech / AgriFutures Australia
Fremantle Octopus, a fully integrated octopus fishing, processing, distribution, and export company, was the winner in the Agribusiness, Food and Beverages category at 35th Western Australian Export Awards, at a gala event last Friday night.
CBH Group, Australia’s largest co-operative and an Australian grain industry leader, won the Regional Exporter category.
Organised by the Invest and Trade Western Australia team at the Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science and Innovation, and proudly supported by the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, the prestigious accolades – across 13 different categories – recognise the success of local companies and provide a platform to raise the profile of the State's export industries.
This year saw a record number of nominations, with 86 applications submitted from 36 companies. All State winners will progress to compete in the Australian Export Awards in Canberra in November.
Exports of goods and services contributed $270.4 billion to the Western Australian economy last financial year with WA accounting for 46% of Australia's merchandise exports in 2022-23. WA exports of agrifoods and fisheries have increased from $12.2 billion in 2021-22 to $16.2 billion in 2022-23, with the majority of value coming from the grains and oilseeds industry. More...
Source: WA Premier / WA Export Awards / DPIRD | Photo: DPIRD [L-R: Emma Davison, General Manager, Fremantle Octopus; Heather Brayford, Director General, DPIRD; Glenn Wheeler, Managing Director, Fremantle Octopus.]
Globally, around 13% of food produced is lost between harvest and retail, while another 17% is wasted at the retail and consumer levels, according to the United Nations (UN).
The UN says the International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste (29 September) – with the 2023 theme Reducing food loss and waste: Taking Action to Transform Food Systems – is an opportunity to call to action both the public (national or local authorities) and the private sector (businesses and individuals), to prioritise actions and move ahead with innovation to reduce food loss and waste towards restoring and building back better and resilient-ready, food systems.
Food loss and waste undermine the sustainability of our food systems. When food is lost or wasted, all the resources that were used to produce this food – including water, land, energy, labour and capital – go to waste. In addition, the disposal of food loss and waste in landfills, leads to greenhouse gas emissions, contributing to climate change. Food loss and waste can also negatively impact food security and food availability, and contribute to increasing the cost of food.
Our food systems cannot be resilient if they are not sustainable, the UN says, hence the need to focus on the adoption of integrated approaches designed to reduce food loss and waste. Actions are required globally and locally to maximise the use of the food we produce. The introduction of technologies, innovative solutions (including e-commerce platforms for marketing, retractable mobile food processing systems), new ways of working and good practices to manage food quality and reduce food loss and waste are key to implementing this transformative change. More...
Source and Photo: United Nations
Projections for growth in global merchandise trade in 2023 have been scaled back by World Trade Organisation (WTO) economists amid a continued slump that began in the fourth quarter of 2022, according to the latest WTO trade forecast released last week.
The volume of world merchandise trade is now expected to grow by 0.8% this year, less than half the 1.7% increase forecast in April. The 3.3% growth projected for 2024 remains nearly unchanged from the previous estimate.
World trade and output slowed abruptly in the fourth quarter of 2022 as the effects of persistent inflation and tighter monetary policy were felt in the United States, the European Union and elsewhere, and as strained property markets in China prevented a stronger post COVID-19 recovery from taking root.
Together with the consequences of the war in Ukraine, these developments have cast a shadow over the outlook for trade. The trade slowdown appears to be broad-based, involving a large number of countries and a wide array of goods, the WTO says. More...
Source: WTO | Photo: Thais Morais / Unsplash
Australia's own economic growth depends on the prosperity and security of our trading partners in the region, particularly East Asia and the Pacific.
Growth in developing East Asia and Pacific is projected to remain strong at 5% in 2023 but will ease in the second half of 2023 and is forecast to be 4.5% during 2024, the World Bank said recently in its semi-annual economic outlook for the region.
According to the World Bank’s East Asia and Pacific October 2023 Economic Update, regional growth this year is higher than average growth projected for all other emerging market and developing economies but lower than previously projected. An intensification of geopolitical tensions, and the possibility of natural disasters, including extreme weather events, are additional downside risks to the region’s economic outlook.
Looking ahead to the medium and long term, the development of services will be central to the East Asia and Pacific’s overall development. East Asia’s rapid economic growth in recent decades is often seen as driven by the manufacturing sector. Yet, services are playing a growing, but often under appreciated role as key drivers of economy-wide growth and job creation. More...
Source and Photo: World Bank
World Trade Organisation (WTO) members have used international agreements and conventions beyond the WTO to impose export regulations for environmental protection, hazardous waste management, weapons control, and combating illegal drugs trade. A new publication launched at the recent WTO Public Forum in Geneva on 15 September provides insights into how these export regulations have been used.
Ensuring that international trade in sensitive or dangerous products takes place safely requires that WTO members work together in enforcing different types of controls, some of which have to be enforced by the exporting members.These export regulations are the product of years of international cooperation and development, which have been embedded into a vast number of international agreements and conventions.
The recently published WTO book, titled 'International export regulations and controls', explores for the first time how these export-related frameworks developed beyond the WTO operate in practice and how they are linked to the multilateral trading system. The significance of safe trade and how it can be facilitated plays an integral role in guiding policymakers and government officials in modern, global economy. More...
Source and Photo: WTO
Further information
Agribusiness, commercial fishing and aquaculture news from the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD). If you have any questions or information to share, please email export@dpird.wa.gov.au.
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Important disclaimer
The Chief Executive Officer of the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development and the State of Western Australia accept no liability whatsoever by reason of negligence or otherwise arising from the use or release of this information or any part of it.
Copyright © State of Western Australia (Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development), 2023.
