IB Woman
Issue No. 16 - April/May 2004
Foodland
by Dr. Susan Nelle and Dr. Susan Nelle
In 1999, Dr Susan Nelle took on the pivotal role of carving a platform and export focus for the State’s food producers. Her given objective was to plan and grow the food industry contribution to the South Australian economy from $6 billion annually to $15 billion annually by 2010. Yet Susan admits that the hardest part was getting people to realise that they belonged to an actual industry.
In 2001, a food plan was endorsed by Government with a stated objective of building partnerships along the demand chain and across different sectors of the industry. These partnerships are vital to creating the necessary scale and consistent, reliable supply required to be internationally competitive. And Susan says the plan has not been deviated from at all.
‘The Government had to simplify its ideas and create an environment to stimulate the business owners,’ Susan says. ‘We had to open the program to everyone, ask them if they wanted to grow and then open new markets for them. $15 billion wasn’t a magic number; it was based on increasing the then 4% annual growth to an 8% annual growth in order to achieve that.’
Susan says that opening new markets, particularly those relating to export, was a scary concept for many small but vital producers and others in the demand chain. However she points out that ‘export’ and ‘new markets’ doesn’t necessarily mean going overseas.
‘For some producers, opening a new market could mean going from local rural distribution to a bigger city distribution. It’s all relative. The program aims to guide and encourage but only to the market level a producer can supply.’
To assist, two significant initiatives were developed. One was to create mentors amongst the peers of those in the food industry. Susan and her team felt that if a culture of learning together and promoting food success stories was developed, that confidence would be developed into new markets.
‘When a small producer can...
