FOOD SOUTH AUSTRALIA ENEWS

MARCH 2015

WELCOME

Welcome to March! This month we launched our events program kicking off with a great Hall of Fame breakfast, followed by the Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC) briefing on the new code of conduct. The latter is very crucial to all food businesses who supply to the major supermarkets, and I urge you seek out how it will impact you. Food South Australia will be assisting by working with the AFGC to access their significant resources. We are also exploring options of having local legal support to assist members to negotiate supplier agreements.

As many manufacturers know, over the last five years, SA Water has been moving towards a fully cost-recovered model for volume and load-based (VLB) trade waste services. This has led to a significant increase in costs for particular industries. The food and beverage industry represents a significant percentage of the VLB customers and is particularly sensitive to increased trade waste costs. Food South Australia is participating in a 90-Day project initiated by the Premier that focuses on the impacts of trade waste management on the food and beverage industry. Among several topics, the project will examine potential assistance packages and incentives to help the wider food industry decrease their trade waste costs. We invite you to email us with your views and ideas about the types of incentives/support that your business needs to decrease your wastewater bills. Please contact Silvia at silvia@foodsa.com.au

Our South East Asia project, which is working with 18 South Australian food businesses to assess export opportunities in the markets of Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore is progressing well. Stage 1 is now complete and an Export Go To Market Plan template, with accompanying guidelines, has been developed including a range of spreadsheets and checklists to assist businesses to consider all aspects of their export plan. Comprehensive market intelligence reports have also been developed by Food South Australia for each business to help identify the market opportunities before proceeding to stage 2 of the project, which includes in market visits and further market research on specific product opportunities. This project received funding from Austrade as part of the Asian Business Engagement Plan, and Primary Industries and Regions SA as part of the Building Markets, South East Asia Program.

In December Food South Australia, with the Economic Development Board (EDB), hosted an initial industry consultation session to explore the concept of a food park located in northern Adelaide. This session considered the potential synergies and efficiencies from co-locating food processors and related suppliers. Feedback from attendees indicated that there is general support for this idea. We have continued to work with the EDB to further investigate this idea in a greater level of detail, with a follow up focus group with industry representatives held in February. We will continue to keep industry informed as this opportunity progresses.

We are very pleased to be reproducing the successful South Australian Food Users' Guide with the support of Primary Industries and Regions SA. A 2nd edition is being printed mid year. We are currently encouraging any South Australian food producers and manufacturers, as well as beer, cider and spirit busineeses who weren't listed in the 1st edition to ensure they complete the quick and easy online form for a FREE listing by mid-March.

Coming up in the next few months we have two of our headline events; Think Food and the Food South Australia Summit. If you are looking to extend your sales and markets, then please consider exhibiting at Think Food. Last time space was sold out, so if you intend on coming please ensure you secure your spot. Expressions of interest are also out for Fine Food in Sydney later this year.

MEET OUR MEMBER: FLEMING AND WARE

Fleming and Ware proudly uses 100% South Australian fruit and almonds and locally milled certified organic rolled oats and millet flakes to hand make its delicious range of naturally healthy muesli.