Industry overview

Australia's food and beverage industries encompass a wide range of products influenced by a diverse multicultural population. Rich geography and a fertile climate enable year-round production using high-quality ingredients. Combined with the use of advanced technology and innovative manufacturing methods, this makes Australia a reliable long-term supplier to global markets.

Australian capability

Australian processed food products are recognised worldwide for their variety and healthy image. The industry is also well known for innovative manufacturing processes and packaging technologies.

The processed food industry is characterised by a small number of large companies and numerous small-to-medium companies. The 20 largest companies account for almost 50 per cent of total industry turnover (Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics). In total there are currently more than 3,500 food and beverages businesses across Australia, employing approximately 163,000 people.

In processed-food exports, two main categories account for more than half:

• Processed meat products, which includes meat and poultry products, bacon, ham and smallgoods
• Processed dairy products, which include milk and cream products, ice cream and cheese.

The next biggest category is beverages, including wine at 14.5 per cent. Other major categories are: seafood, confectionery and sugar, milled flour products, cereal and baked goods, processed fruit and vegetables (including snack-foods, nuts and fruit juices), alcoholic beverages (excluding wine), non-alcoholic beverages and edible oils and fats. Smaller categories include salt, herbs and spices, flavourings, ingredients and animal feed products.

Many categories also include gourmet products, while there are a number of unique categories such as products with native ingredients ('bush tucker'), functional foods and organic foods.

Innovation

Product innovation

Australia has expertise in developing innovative products to meet changing consumer demand, optimise product safety and enhance shelf life.

Recent product developments include innovation in:

• Dairy products including full cream milk powder with high levels of 'fat-free' for chocolate and confectionery products; whey protein-based skim milk replacements for yoghurts, ice-cream and other products; milk powders with enhanced foaming, emulsifying and solubility characteristics.

• Processed grain products including the development of wheat-based snack foods and breakfast cereals; grain-based textured vegetable products; improvements to the texture of wheat noodles for specific export markets.

• Processed meat and seafood products including the development of value-added meat products (cold-set binders, edible coatings, even-coloured hams, reduced-fat processed meats, microwave-ready beef steaks and pork products); modified atmosphere packed, retail ready fresh and cooked meat and seafood products; fermented seafoods, fish sauces and snack food ingredients; value adding to seafood (coating, pickling and convenience food options); spray drying, encapsulation and flavour technology and powdered product development.

• The development of convenience meals and fully prepared home meal replacements.

(Source: Food Science Australia, 2003)

Supply chain innovation

To maintain Australia's competitiveness, and ensure that our customers receive high-quality foodstuffs, innovation in the supply chain is continuous. Australian companies have expertise in the design and application of cold chain, transportation, distribution and packaging systems. Recent examples of innovation include techniques for maximising temperature uniformity within refrigerated containers during export and the development of systems to prevent moisture damage to dry manufactured product exported in dry goods containers.

Food categories

Specific Australian food product categories include:

• meat
• dairy
• seafood
• fruit and vegetables
• wine
• organic foods.

Other areas where Australia has significant capability includes confectionery, milled flours, cereal products and baked goods, and beverages — both alcoholic (excluding wine) and non-alcoholic beverages.

See also information on Australian industry capabilities in Wine.