Agriculture has been identified as one of the ‘big five’ growth sectors that could generate an additional $250 billion for Australia over the next 20 years and value-added food processing has been identified as one of the top 25 economic growth ‘hot spots’ by financial consultancy Deloitte. Deloitte’s report, ‘Position for Prosperity? Catching the Next Wave’ also states that the processing of agricultural commodities has been cited as one of the 19 ‘sectoral hotspots’ with the greatest potential for the Australian economy as the mining boom evolves. The processed food industry is projected to grow at 3.8% per year over the next 20 years through seizing opportunities meeting demand from the ‘dining boom’ of Asia, North America and the Middle East. Because of the strong Australian dollar, and relatively high input costs, the Australian lower value, high volume end of the market has struggled against overseas processors and Deloitte advises that Australia shift from the producing of commodity products to the processing and supply of high-value premium products.
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