Tassie on show at Singapore Expo

TASMANIAN products and produce were on show at the Singapore Expo, with 11 businesses from the state taking part.

The FHA-Food & Beverage Show, part of the Singapore Expo, is considered one of Asia’s leading international trade events.

Fruit Growers Tasmania represented its 90-plus members, with its CEO Peter Cornish declaring the expo a success.

“Singapore is a really good and interesting market. They value their fruit; they value good fruit,” Mr Cornish said.

“And the good thing being an open market, it is available for us to export all our fruit to – whether that be cherries, which currently go there in significant numbers, but also apples and berries.

“For berries, because we don’t have access to many markets, the open markets like Singapore are very important.”

Mr Cornish said the FHA-Food & Beverage Show was a good way to elevate Tasmania’s profile.

“From our point of view, what we’d love is for is when people think of Tasmania, they think of fruit.

“We were a little bit different to the other people on the Tasmanian stand, because the rest were individual companies, whereas we’re the association representing the whole industry.

“For us, it’s about elevating the understanding and appreciation of Tasmanian fruit in a pretty crowded and very competitive market.”

The Asian market for Mr Cornish was important.

“More than a third of all our cherries get exported, so it’s vital,” he said.

“We don’t export a lot of apples and what our approach is for apples is to find targeted niche markets.

“Generally, all the fruit we produce is high-cost. We have higher labour charges, higher freight costs, and often we’re focusing on air freight rather than sea freight – compared to our competitors.

“So we need to find these targeted niche markets where people appreciate great fruit and are prepared to pay for that.”

Adams Distillery also attended the expo.

“Attending FHA Singapore under the Tasmanian banner with Trade Tasmania has been instrumental in us realising our export strategy,” distillery co-founder Adam Saunders said.

“The support that Trade Tasmania has given us to gain knowledge of the market and giving us direct contact with inbound buyers has been invaluable.”

Meanwhile, Spreyton Fresh Brand and Business Development Manager John Mann said being at the expo was a beneficial exercise.

“Partnering with Trade Tasmania at FHA this year has been a game changer for us with export into South East Asia,” Mr Mann said.

“Having direct access to buyers and importers as a collaborative approach with the other local producers under the Tasmanian brand has played a major part in our successful export journey.”

Other businesses attending FHA Singapore included Blue Hills Honey, Bruny Island Cheese Co and Bruny Island Beer Co, Dutch Mill Tasmanian, Haddow + Dineen, Old Kempton Distillery, Hunter Island Distillery, Taylor & Smith Distilling Co and Forager Foods.