Austrade media release

Monday, 4 August 2008

The Australian Trade Commission (Austrade) will hold a special event at Business Club Australia promoting Australia’s sophisticated food and beverage sector to key food industry players in China.

The event will bring together around 40 buyers from the food and beverage industry from Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Dalian, Qingdao, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Xi'an, Wuhan, as well as key Beijing distributors, wholesalers, and retail managers.

Austrade’s Shanghai-based Trade Commissioner Julie-Anne Nichols said the event, set against the backdrop of the Olympics, would offer the opportunity to showcase Australian produce and specialty food and beverage products that have the potential to service China’s growing consumer tastes.

“Business Club Australia represents a unique opportunity to profile and present Australian business strengths with one voice, at one time, and in one location, while the world’s focus is on the Beijing Olympics,” Ms Nichols said.

“It’s a particularly strong opportunity to showcase Australian strengths as a supplier of quality food and beverages, including wine, in a festive and celebratory atmosphere.

“China's middle class is almost 50 million strong and is predicted to reach 150 million over the next 10 years. The increased awareness of international food and beverage choices, combined with the rapid pace of urbanisation will mean continued rising demand for imported food and beverage products,” Ms Nichols said.

“Rising awareness of the benefits of healthy, natural and organic foods is also seeing a shift in consumer tastes, and Australia’s clean and green nation brand profile can help exporters get the attention of customers and distributors.

“Austrade has identified many opportunities in wine and other Australian beverages including juice and water, which continues to rise in popularity as western tastes influence local consumer choices.

“At the Business Club Australia Food and Beverage event, Chinese buyers will be treated to a range of products such as the iconic Aussie meat pie, Australian native bush ingredients from Robins Foods such as lemon myrtle, wattle seed, and bush tomato, as well as unique Strait Brand Vodka and Gin infused with Australian flavours such as Tasmanian Pepper Berries and Hibiscus flowers.

“A wide range of Australian wines will also be on show, and the Hilton Beijing, which already serves Australian beef from Elders, will also include participating Australian wines on its menu for the function and for the duration of the games.

Representing the food and beverage industry, Business Club Australia sponsors include Pernod Ricard’s Jacobs Creek, Snowy Mountain Water and winemakers Wirra Wirra.

In 2007-08, Austrade assisted 209 food and beverage exporters achieve 319 deals in China worth $145 million. Ninety-eight of these were new or irregular exporters.

More than 40 networking and business events are planned during the Games through Business Club Australia, which will leverage the excitement of Olympic sporting events to build trade and investment opportunities for Australian businesses.

Australian businesses have indicated that Business Club Australia has helped deliver over $1.7 billion in business outcomes at major sporting events including the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games and the Rugby World Cup 2007 in France.

ENDS

Media contact

Seth Tenkate
Tel: +61 2 9390 2118
Mob: +61 400 944 457

For further news and information from the Australian Trade Commission (Austrade) visit www.austrade.gov.au/mediacentre.