Australia is losing its competitive edge as a food producer – but it’s not too late to change direction, according to one of the authors of a landmark report on the nation’s food and agricultural industry.
Vanessa Matthijssen, executive member and Asia Pacific food and consumer lead at Deloitte Australia – a guest on Women Transforming Food, the monthly podcast from G100 and Inside FMCG – was instrumental in creating the report the Land of Plenty Position Paper, a document that calls for Australia to become a global food superpower.
With a strong background in strategy and data, Matthijssen has dedicated a significant portion of her financial advisory career to the food sector. Most recently, she spearheaded the formation of the Australian Food and Agricultural Task Force, which brought together CEOs and board members from across the supply chain, culminating in the Land of Plenty paper.
The task force was formed just over a year ago to develop a vision and a path forward for a thriving food system in Australia – one that is climate-smart, resilient, globally competitive, and addresses some challenges around food security and food affordability. It brought together 14 influential CEOs and board members from organisations across the entire food value chain, including representation from farmer groups like the National Farmers Federation, major processors like GrainCorp and Bega, supermarkets, banks and technology venture capitalists. All were united in the belief that Australia can do more with its food system.
Matthijssen shared some of the group’s key findings with Women Transforming Food’s co-hosts, Amie Larter, CEO of Octomedia, the publisher of Inside FMCG, and Angeline Achariya, Asia Pacific Chair of the Food Systems Innovation and Resilience Wing, G100 Mission Million.
The task force believes Australia’s food and agriculture industry could be a much stronger engine for economic growth; more resilient and secure. “We are not as food secure in Australia as we would like to think we are. And it could be a lot more powerful force to deliver on our net zero and nature repair aspirations.”
The group believes that without deliberate action, Australia will lose its competitive edge on a global level.
“Now we are a net exporter, and we have a vibrant agricultural history. We are well respected by our global markets, but there are forces at play that challenge our position, and global markets are evolving at very different speeds.
“We feel Australia is not in line with the pace of some of our other markets. We saw through the work that we did and the surveys that we created for our farmer communities here that 44 per cent of farmers in Australia already believe the country is losing its competitive edge. Therefore, standing still means that we’re going backwards. We just don’t think that that’s an option for us because we’ve got such strong foundations, and our food system can become a superpower for Australia if we choose to be.”
Three key fronts for change
Matthiessen’s task force identified three fronts where change needs to happen.
“The first one is around climate-smart practices and the adoption levels here in Australia. While they are relatively high, we do want to see an increase to build stronger climate resilience on farms and that will require financial support for our farmers.” The group is advocating for standardised frameworks and infrastructure to help measure climate data and exchange data across the network.
“The second front is around sovereign supply capabilities – the need for us to become less dependent on imports and critical inputs. Particularly with today’s geopolitical landscape, exposure to global players is increasingly risky.
“The third one is strengthening our export position and diversification: A stronger evidence-based narrative for ‘Brand Australia’ and then diversifying beyond just produce into more IP and biotech technologies.”
Matthijssen believes these three fronts of change would be best managed by a national coordinating body, similar to those that operate in rival leading markets. That body would then work with different players, including the government, to channel the efforts and investments towards these recommendations.
Now that the task force has launched the position paper, it won’t continue in its current form, but members have agreed to continue to connect as a group to focus on mobilising the change it is advocating.
How food and nutrition have a role in addressing diet-related illnesses
During a time when diet-related illnesses are skyrocketing, Matthijssen is passionate about ways to address health issues through food and nutrition.
“In Australia, we live longer than in many other countries, but not necessarily in the best health conditions or with the best quality of life, particularly in the later stages of life.”
Australians should not have to accept that, Matthijssen says. If healthcare providers work together with the food industry, they can make a real difference in prevention and recovery, an impact she considers to be underestimated currently.
“A lot is already being done. There are some exciting initiatives, including one where hospitals teamed up with food suppliers to offer food and meal prescriptions as an alternative to medicine for outpatients to speed up their recovery.”
But she identifies major opportunities in prevention. In education, for example, by making sure the healthy choice is the easy choice for consumers.
“Our food industry has a big role to play – from what they decide to grow, how to formulate the products for a supermarket, what they choose to range or even how they price or promote products on the shelves.
“I have been encouraged by a lot of the initiatives that organisations have put in place, but I believe that we’ve got much more to do,” Matthijssen concludes.
- Listen to the podcast to hear Matthijssen, Larter, and Achariya discuss further issues, including the next big transformation in the food system, the intersection of food and climate – and a verdict on South Australia’s ban of junk food ads on state buses.
