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WA agrifood businesses are invited to EOI for the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development's (DPIRD) new Export Strategy Development Program commencing on 5 May 2026.
The program will be delivered by Belinda Hay, Principal Consultant and Founder, Beyond Export and includes 4 x 2-hr group sessions (webinars) delivered fortnightly from 5 May 2026 and a tailored one-on-one coaching session for each business.
The webinars will cover:
- Why businesses need a written export strategy and barriers to doing this
- What to include in your strategy document
- Best practise for using the strategy within your business
- Self-reflection of company success and sales maturity
- An honest review of management time to drive and participate in export development
- Narrowing down markets of focus - overseas market research, what to research and how
- Business models, partnerships, and customer-centric approaches to grow overseas
- Selecting the right tactics for customer identification, relationship building, and growing sales.
To be eligible for the 2026 Export Strategy Development Program, your business must:
- Be a registered Australian-based legal entity with an Australian Business Number (ABN),
- Agree to the terms and conditions of participation, including a commitment to attend all four webinars and the one-on-one session,
- Be exporting, or seeking to export, goods that are produced, grown, or manufactured in Western Australia,
- Own the brand of the food and beverage products intended for export or be an employee of the business that owns the brand, and
- Commit to a non‑refundable contribution of $380 + GST towards the program.
This program is relevant to companies already exporting who are looking to grow, and also to those new to export.
Costs:
Cost of the group sessions will be covered by DPIRD. Businesses are expected to contribute $380 plus GST (40%) towards the one-on-one coaching.
Please submit your EOI before 5:00pm AWST, Monday, 30 March 2026 via the DPIRD website.
For any enquiry, please contact export@dpird.wa.gov.au.
Source and image: DPIRD
The Western Australian Government is helping small businesses plan and prepare for the impacts of a changing climate, through the Climate Adaptation Program for Small to Medium Enterprises delivered by the Small Business Development Corporation.
The Climate Ready program is offering practical workshops State-wide, delivered by climate mitigation and adaptation strategy experts.
Open to new and existing small business owners across all industries, the free workshops will see participants develop a tailored climate adaptation action plan for their business, access support resources and be eligible to apply for a share of $200,000 grant funding to support implementation of their climate adaptation plans.
The series of free State-wide workshops commence in Albany on 26 March 2026.
The Climate Ready Toolkit and tickets for the workshops are available at the Small Business Development Corporation's website.
Source: WA Govt | Image: iStock
The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) is pleased to invite WA food, beverage, and agribusinesses to attend the Meet the Buyer - Singapore webinar.
This session is designed to support WA exporters preparing for buyer meetings and refining their market approach ahead of the FHA Singapore in April 2026. With a focus on a distinct but strategically important market, the webinar will provide practical, high-level guidance to help businesses maximise their impact at this show and during discussions with buyers.
Delivered by Export Connect, this webinar is tailored specifically for WA food, beverage, and agribusinesses and will draw on the expertise of in-market specialists to provide actionable insights into the Singapore market.
Key topics will include:
Singapore market overview
- Economic and demographic landscape
- Consumer and societal trends
- Channel trends across retail, foodservice and e-commerce
- Cultural considerations for doing business and buyer etiquette
Market entry & commercial considerations
- Common buyer expectations and how to prepare for meetings
- Top line essentials for preparing your pitch deck
Live Q&A with In-Market experts
Date and time
- Thursday 9 April, 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM AWST
- Register now
This online webinar is free to attend. The webinar link will be delivered closer to the event date. There will also be a pre-departure briefing for those travelling to FHA.
Source and image: DPIRD
The Processed Oat Partnership (POP) is offering up to ten $4,500 AUD (exclusive of GST) bursaries as part of a POP International Study Tour – assisting WA oat industry stakeholders to travel to Chile, South America, to attend the 2026 International Oat Conference (OAT2026) and participate in any additional pre- or post-conference oat-focused side events arranged by Grain Industry Association of Western Australia.
The international study tour will centre around OAT2026 in Pucón, Chile, from 17 to 22 November 2026. A strong WA contingent including growers, researchers, plant breeders, accumulators, traders, processors, and manufacturers is expected to attend OAT2026.
Please complete an Expression of Interest via this link and submit before Friday 10 April 2026. A POP-appointed Selection Panel will review submissions and acceptances will be confirmed during April 2026.
To learn more, please read the Guidelines.
Source and image: Grain Industry Association of Western Australia
The Asia Pacific region offers significant upside for export-ready food and beverage brands — but it’s also one of the easiest regions to misjudge when it comes to market entry.
Retailers can list products — but distributors drive sales through execution
In APAC export markets, getting a product onto shelf is not the prize. The prize is turning that shelf space into repeat orders.
Retailers, at best, can provide access. But most retailers are weak when it comes to the day-to-day activities that actually drive rotation, including:
• effective merchandising and shelf management
• ongoing marketing support
• promotional planning and execution
• in-store visibility and activation
This is where strong distributors outperform direct-to-retail models.
Direct retail supply limits scale — a well-appointed distributor unlocks efficient growth
Supplying retailers directly sounds efficient until you’re trying to build scale.
In reality, managing multiple direct retail relationships across one APAC market creates complexity fast:
• multiple ordering systems and processes
• fragmented forecasting and logistics
• inconsistent ranging and stock flow
• high time cost for low volume outcomes
A better approach is to build a single distributor partnership that can supply the full set of relevant channels in-market — modern trade, convenience, foodservice, online and specialty retail — depending on your category and positioning.
This becomes a more scalable market expansion strategy, and it makes managing your export market far more efficient. One partner, one supply flow, one route-to-market system — with far better commercial leverage.
A whole-of-market strategy is almost impossible without a distributor
Most brands underestimate how difficult it is to build a “whole-of-market” approach while supplying retailers directly.
Without a single party coordinating execution, you often end up with fragmented outcomes:
• inconsistent pricing across channels
• unaligned promotional activity
• mixed messaging and poor retail storytelling
• different retailers pushing the brand in different directions
Effective market entry strategies rely on uniform execution: consistent pricing, consistent marketing, and consistent promotional cadence across the market.
A capable distributor can drive and execute this strategy across the whole market — ensuring your brand shows up with clarity, control, and commercial discipline.
Source and image: INCITE
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.
Subscribe to Western Australian Agrifood Export eNews.
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), 2026.
