Meet the Finalists - Exporting
With support from government at a state and federal level to help Australian businesses expand and diversify their export markets, some of the region’s producers have benefitted from being participants of the Gippsland Connect Program facilitated by Food & Fibre Gippsland.
No doubt, the global pandemic conditions have resulted in unprecedented challenges for export, but the businesses on the finalists list for the Exporting Award have adapted. They’ve continued to explore new markets and find new customers all around the world. This Award recognises food and fibre businesses that have tapped into international market share by significantly increasing their product export volumes or they’ve penetrated new export markets in 2021.
The finalists are : Little Bumble Reusable Food Wraps, Pure Harvest, South Gippsland Dairy and Victoria Valley Meats.
About Pure Harvest
Established in 1979 and manufacturing in Drouin in the Baw Baw Shire since 2001, Pure Harvest employ around 100 people to create their goof products that are distributed all around Australia and the world. They are leaders and innovators in the organic food and plant milk industry and were the first to establish and grow product categories that are now consumed every day in households everywhere.
Pure Harvest has a strong international business and is engaged with around 30 distributors across 25 countries, including China, New Zealand, Singapore, Japan and Hong Kong to sell their product range.
Their dairy and non dairy products are strong sellers across Asia and the Southeast Asia, with many countries in this region not having a safe, established dairy industry. The non-dairy plant milks manufactured by Pure Harvest offer a great alternative to milk and are very popular.
With help and some guidance from Austrade, Pure Harvest is continually looking for further expansion internationally and are currently exploring opportunities in Vietnam, Japan, India and South Korea.
About Victoria Valley Meats
Victoria Valley Meat Exports - Central Agri Group has been in operation since 2016, with the business experiencing exponential growth over the last five years, increasing their production capacity from 50 kill a day to 220 kill a day in just 1.5 years.
This has created jobs for Gippsland locals as well as opportunities for skilled labour from overseas - the business employs around 100 people in the local community and are proud of their diverse workforce in terms of gender, ethnicity, culture and mindsets.
They’ve developed a culture of inclusion and openness and the brand continues to grow on a solid foundation of sustainability principles, with their major growth in their export market meaning around 80% of sales are from direct exports and niche markets.
Victoria Valley Meats has export licence and listing to 20+ countries including the USA, and they are now eagerly working on adding new markets including the EU. With a commitment to be the best brand for their local and foreign markets and an employer of choice in Victoria, this busy operation is one of the few dedicated halal beef processors in Gippsland.
Their halal meat products mainly export to Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and the USA.
About Little Bumble Wraps
When Little Bumble Wraps founder Laura Eddington won a trip to China through the City of Melbourne and ACASE, it allowed her to represent Gippsland in Nanjing whilst showcasing the Little Bumble product range to the Asian market. It was through connections established on this trip that the business starting exporting to Singapore in 2019, and their export activity has continued to grow since then.
In mid 2021, a B2B connection was established with a company in Hong Kong who now makes regular orders and reports that the Little Bumble products are selling very well in their marketplace. Laura and her team are planning to form more international B2B partnerships and increase their distribution and export opportunities.
To minimise risk and reduce shipping costs, they currently export their Beeswax wraps B2B indirectly through an Australian based fine food consolidator, and through their work with the Start Up Gippsland Scale Up program, they’ve begun forming more international connections and are working on how to best determine global potential, including the possibility of tapping into the American and Canadian market in the coming years.
Working with consolidators makes good sense to their business model and they consider that working with experienced operators will contribute to reduce costs and time associated with trying to research and target individual countries on their own. Laura and the Little Bumble team are focussed on approaching markets they feel they can meet capacity for, but by starting smaller with Asian countries closer to Australia, they will be able to manage their growth whilst increasing market share and building their brand internationally.
About South Gippsland Dairy
South Gippsland Dairy bio colostrum has grown over the last five years to diversify products and markets both domestically and internationally and they continue to explore opportunities for different grades of colostrum to be used across different products and applications. Developed and built entirely in South Gippsland from Farm primary product harvesting systems, through to R&D to factory to marketing and sales of finished product, this is Gippsland Trusted Provenance reaching out to the world.
The business has awakened a new natural health supplement and high value added product market place both domestically and internationally. Over the next three years, this dual family owned and operated business plans to continue their product range expansion to more international markets, primarily in Asia.
Their current international markets are Vietnam, the USA and France, with a mix of wholesale and direct online sales. They concentrate their export activity into the tablets and capsules range due to better product stability. Covid has proven to be a challenge to get consistent supply to some countries, but as the conditions surrounding the pandemic continue to ease, they are confidence they’ll eventually resume a supply chain routine that demands monthly shipments. Their distribution to the USA and European markets is all driven by ecommerce, but opportunities to connect with agents and wholesalers continue to be explored.
Their bio colostrum product range offers a unique point of difference, with the freeze drying process capturing and maximising the nutrient value as opposed to many “competitors” who use a heat drying process. Its origins from the clean green rolling hills of Gippsland has huge appeal to international markets, and South Gippsland Dairy Bio Colostrum is currently the only Australian colostrum product.
