THE surge in activity after COVID slowdowns will form the backdrop to a discussion on supply chain best practice in the Asia market at Asia Fruit Logistica in Hong Kong, tomorrow.
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The International Fresh Produce Association (IFPA) will host the session on September 7 as part of the Asiafruit Business Forum, which takes place on the trade show floor.
The discussion is part of a series of education sessions from the organisation.
IFPA Australia-New Zealand managing director Ben Hoodless will facilitate the discussion which will include:
- Luke Wood, CEO of supply chain intelligence provider, Escavox;
- Michael Simonetta, CEO, Perfection Fresh, Australia's largest privately owned fresh produce grower and marketer;
- Noel Ainsworth, principal supply chain horticulturist at Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries;
- Martin Ferreyra, Australian trade commissioner and consul, South China and agribusiness sector lead, Greater China.
Mr Hoodless said prominent food industry leaders, producers and supply chain partners were responding to the positive momentum.
He said international carrier Cathay Pacific's decision to increase its number of weekly flights between Hong Kong and Brisbane by 50 per cent to cater for additional tourists and rising exports, providing an additional 50 tonnes of cargo space a week, according to the Queensland Government, was a good sign.
"And Australia's national horticulture R&D and marketing body, Hort Innovation, announced last month it had secured $130 million to fund its Fresh and Secure Trade Alliance (FASTA), an initiative created to help protect and grow Australia's horticultural exports, especially in new lucrative markets," Mr Hoodless said.
"The funding comes at a time of huge opportunity for fresh produce suppliers in our region, illustrated by successful trial shipments of Australian avocados to India in July stemming from the Australia-India free trade agreement and the desire to diversify export markets as protection against future volatility."
New digital technology, identified in a recent IFPA Future Trends report, will be critical to relieving further pressure on food supply systems, according to Mr Hoodless.
Supply chain tracking technology from Australian data provider Escavox was on board the avocado shipments bound for India, conveying the conditions of the journey and its impact on the consigned produce back to its exporters in real time.
Escavox's Mr Wood said along every step of the journey, those with a stake in seeing the avocados arrive in optimum condition could see where their produce was located and whether it was too hot, too cold or exposed to too much light, humidity or movement.
"The data collated on the journey, also means that the exporter and the importer, along with trade officials and regulators in both countries, have a verifiable, independent data profile that not only protects the integrity of the product but all parties in the transaction should something go wrong in the chain," he said.
Perfection Fresh's Mr Simonetta said supply chain capability was crucial in the export channel.
"It can greatly impact our product quality and our bottom line," he said.
"Having the right access, systems, processes, and governance is key for us."
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