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If you’re in Perth for a few days before and after evokeAG. 2024, make the most of it by attending sideline events for in-depth exploration, valuable connections, and exclusive insights into WA's thriving food and agriculture sector.
Presented by the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) in collaboration with leading WA organisations, these side events unlock a world of potential. Explore cutting-edge products, services, and innovations that define WA's agricultural strength and connect directly with the state's leading food and beverage producers, agricultural innovators, and tech companies. Some of the side events still accepting registrations include:
Sunday 18 February
Wednesday 21 February
Thursday 22 February and Friday 23 February
- Blue Growth Conference
- Future Food Systems - For Food's Sake Summit and Gala dinner
- Western Australia BioInnovation Symposium 2024
- Agriculture Traceability Panel Discussion and Agtech Innovation Demonstrations
- Grain Innovation On Tour
- Agribusiness Tour - A Showcase of WA's Finest by WALFA
- Gascoyne Summer Canape Sundowner
The full list of evokeAG. side events is available online.
Source: evokeAG | Photo: Tourism Western Australia
United Kingdom focus session – evokeAG.
The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development is also offering a side event at evokeAG., a unique United Kingdom market insights session exploring the exciting opportunities awaiting Western Australian food and beverage producers in the UK. Led by the Consul-General of the United Kingdom for Western Australia, Maria Rennie, the event will shed light on the current trends and landscape of the UK market.
Key speakers:
- Maria Rennie: UK Consul-General for Western Australia Ms Rennie will provide insights to support businesses looking to leverage the favourable market conditions made available through the Australia-UK Free Trade Agreement, including through providing insights on support available for businesses looking to invest in the UK markets.
- Rose Mann: Founder of London's Farm Girl Café, offering insights into the UK food service and hospitality scene, highlighting opportunities for 'Brand Australia', and suggesting strategies to leverage your unique selling points.
- Ian Batt: Founder of Small Things Wine, who recently entered the UK market, sharing his first-hand experience with research, planning, and establishing distribution and retail connections.
Don't miss this valuable opportunity to gain an in-depth understanding of the UK food and beverage market trends and consumer preferences and discover potential areas of growth and export opportunities for your WA-produced products.
The event will be held on Monday 19 February 2024 from 1.30 pm to 2.30 pm at the Ritz-Carlton Perth in the Swan River Room 2. Seats are limited, so register today by emailing Nin Rousset at nin.rousset@dpird.wa.gov.au.
Source: evokeAG. | Photo: DPIRD [A WA agrifood trade delegation visited Farm Girl Café Soho in October 2022 during a market familiarisation program.]
IATA guidance on perishable loss reduction
The safe and timely delivery of perishable goods is a priority in air cargo transportation and is necessary to ensure product safety and quality. Guidance on Perishable Loss Reduction, released by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), was developed to offer strategies and best practices essential to mitigating loss.
IATA says there are 3 common causes of loss:
- Damage due to improper handling or inadequate packaging. Solution: Appropriate packaging methods, techniques, and materials, adherence to handling procedures (up-to-date training), real-time tracking, and monitoring to identify at which stage damage occurs to prevent future incidents.
- Delays caused by logistical issues, regulatory hurdles, unpredictable weather conditions. Solution: Implementing product-particular loading/offloading needs and procedures, identifying where bottlenecks occur, that is, using tracking data so risk management procedures could be put in place, and optimising routing and scheduling.
- Transit operations such as regulatory hurdles and miscommunication which pose risks to cargo integrity. Solution: Leveraging systems and platforms to optimise the transit process with predictive analytics, transit times, etc, and collaboration between supply chain stakeholders.
Source: IATA | Photo: Josue Isai Ramos Figueroa / Unsplash
Australia and Southeast Asia's leading figures in sustainable ocean ventures will soon be converging at the Blue Growth Conference, capitalising on our vibrant marine biodiversity.
A captivating side event of evokeAG. taking place on Thursday 22 February at the Esplanade Hotel Fremantle, this immersive conference will delve into the boundless potential of our oceans, exploring innovative solutions and groundbreaking advancements across critical sectors:
- Aquaculture and wild harvest: fish, mollusk, crustaceans, pearl, seaweed.
- Marine bioproducts: nutraceuticals, pharmaceuticals, bioplastics.
- Ecosystem regeneration: seagrass, seaweed, coral reef.
- Supply chain: monitoring, construction, automation, maintenance, energy, and finance.
This expanded conference will draw attention to the unique characteristics and economic opportunities of these ocean industries, building on the global interest in this region and sector.
This is the event for gaining insights, discovering opportunities, connecting with talent, and exploring investment in the present and future potential of sustainable ‘blue growth’. Visit the conference website to register and to see the complete list of speakers.
Source and Image: evokeAG
Australia's agriculture, fisheries and forestry (AFF) exports soared to a record value of $80.4 billion in 2022-23, the Australian Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry reported last week. This is a 17% increase on the previous year.
Record crop production in 2022–23 coincided with an increase in demand for Australian grain due to global supply disruptions and increased prices, allowing significant gains for Australian farmers. Exporters benefited from decreasing input costs compared to the first half of 2022, including easing costs for fertiliser and freight.
China remains Australia’s largest single export market, worth approximately $17 billion in 2022–23. The market share of other Asian markets continued to grow, particularly for fast-growing economies in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) ($19 billion). In 2022–23, ASEAN’s share of Australia’s AFF exports reached a record high (23%). Japan ($6 billion) and the Republic of Korea ($5 billion) also grew their market share. More...
Source: DAFF | Photo: DPIRD
The clouds are beginning to part. The global economy begins the final descent toward a soft landing, with inflation declining steadily and growth holding up. However, the pace of expansion remains slow, and turbulence may lie ahead, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Global activity proved resilient in the second half of last year, as demand and supply factors supported major economies. On the demand side, stronger private and government spending sustained activity, despite tight monetary conditions. On the supply side, increased labor force participation, mended supply chains and cheaper energy and commodity prices helped, despite renewed geopolitical uncertainties.
The IMF says this resilience will carry over. Global growth under IMF's baseline forecast will steady at 3.1% this year, a 0.2% upgrade from October 2023 projections, before edging up to 3.2% next year.
However, China's 2023 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth of 5.2% is expected to slow further, with the IMF forecasting 4.6% this year and 4.1% in 2025, as weak consumption and investment drag on activity. More...
Source: IMF | Photo: Kinsey W / Unsplash
Artificial intelligence (AI) is poised to become a game-changer for Australian productivity, offering significant potential across the economy, according to a new report from the Australian Productivity Commission. However, like most transformative technologies, the full impact might not be immediately visible in data. To truly unlock AI's potential, government support is crucial, alongside efforts from businesses.
While AI's productivity benefits are clear, realising them requires more than just deploying the technology. Investing in complementary factors like management changes, training, and revamped business processes is essential. These often outstrip the initial AI investment in size and can take years to deliver benefits.
Many Australian businesses already leverage AI unknowingly through updates to existing software and outsourced services. This 'by default' adoption translates to gradual, widespread productivity gains, though difficult to directly attribute to AI.
Currently, humans and AI often collaborate in a 'co-pilot' model, with AI assisting human decision-making. Over time, as AI capabilities evolve, the level of human oversight might decrease.
AI holds immense potential for Australian productivity, but unlocking larger productivity gains requires deeper transformations beyond the technology itself. More...
Source and Image: Productivity Commission
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), 2024.
