What we do

F&FG has partnered with the Latrobe Valley Authority to deliver the food and fibre stream of the Gippsland Smart Specialisation Strategy (GS3). The food and fibre stream of the GS3 is currently exploring seven innovation opportunities.

The Gippsland Food and Fibre Awards aim to recognise, celebrate and reward excellence in collaboration and innovation.

The competition adopts a two-tiered approach, with three premier awards accompanied by a range of category awards across the entire food and fibre supply chain.

The National Vegetable Extension Network aims to effectively extend important research based information to the horticulture industry and its growers to help them build their businesses.

Stakeholders from a broad array of Gippsland businesses called for a unified brand that ties Gippsland produce to our region's successfully implemented visitor economy branding as developed by Destination Gippsland (DGL).

F&FG is the South-East Node Lead in the Drought Resilience Innovation and Adoption Hub program, where the focus is on collaboration. The hub will aim to ensure agricultural research is useful and accessible. The Future Drought Fund will provide secure, continuous funding for drought resilience initiatives, helping Australian farms and communities prepare for the impacts of drought.

The Regional Drought Resilience Planning (RDRP) program aims to increase regional resilience to the impacts of drought, with a vision of enabling businesses and rural communities to be prepared for, and capable of managing, drought in pursuit of a prosperous and sustainable future.

The Gippsland Circular Economy Hub is bringing together businesses, industry, community groups, government, research and education to collaborate on identifying and actioning circular economy projects and initiatives in our region.

This project centres around a demonstration of soil moisture sensors for Gippsland’s vegetable industry, providing an opportunity for vegetable growers to experiment with using soil moisture sensors in the context of short-cycle crops, a setting which has not seen much adoption of the technology.

We recognise the need to develop workforce capabilities for now and into the future and to build stronger partnerships across industry, training providers and TAFEs grant funding has been secured to implement an innovative and collaborative project over a two-year period.

Food & Fibre Gippsland is pleased to provide free access to the Export Connect Portal for our valued members. If you’ve ever thought about exporting product, or would like to expand your business on a national level, the Export Connect Portal has all the tools you’ll need to get started.

The Gippsland PASE Program (Package Assisting Small Exporters) was aimed at small to medium exporters. SME exporters of dairy, fish, eggs, grain, plant, horticulture, meat and animal products will benefit from the project, which assisted producers to overcome market access barriers.

With the support of the Australian Government’s SME Export Hub Grant and Regional Partnerships-Gippsland, F&FG implemented the Gippsland Connect program, supporting Gippsland businesses to explore export opportunities.

In 2023, Food & Fibre Gippsland offered two innovative programs for the benefit of our members which addressed wastage across the supply chain. Both programs, Direct and Ecodex, were designed and licensed by Empauer, using information technology developed by RMIT University.

Delivered between July 2022-September 2023, our Informed and Supported Workers (ISW) Program aimed to provide dedicated holistic support to vulnerable seasonal workers and improve the sustainability of Gippsland’s workforce across the agricultural sector.

What’s Your Food or Fibre Challenge, Gippsland? was a program that aimed to turn challenges in businesses of all sizes into greater opportunities. The program sought to contribute to the growth, prosperity and sustainability of the region, sparking innovation that not only benefits our communities and businesses but leads the way for the food and fibre industry nationally and globally.