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Big producer: Australia exported dairy products to more than 120 countries last year
Meat and Dairy
In a world produce market plagued by health concerns, Australia’s food and agribusiness sector stands out for its safety, freshness and hygiene.
Japan is already a major consumer of Australian food products, particularly dairy and meat, and this trend looks set to continue. Australia’s expanding aquaculture, agriculture and wine industries all promise new produce for the Japanese dinner table.
With both our cultures valuing the quality of foodstuffs highly, it’s not surprising that we work together to set the standards for superior cuisine.
For evidence of the two countries’ synergies look no further than Tetsuya Wakuda, voted the best chef in the world by UK’s Restaurant magazine in 2004. At Tetsuya’s in Sydney, the menu contains a fusion of Japanese and western cuisines, and reflects both Wakuda’s upbringing in Hamamatsu and his residence in Australia for more than 20 years.
Meat and dairy
Know your cow
From farm to fork – the whole life of your Australian beef is carefully recorded. Traceability programs allow beef to be traced from the product’s destination back to the farm. Livestock can be traced to individual farms and properties through an eight-digit Property Identification Code (PIC). The code is recorded on a tag attached to the animal, and each animal can be checked on a central database.
A recent agreement signed between Itochu Corporation of Japan and CSIRO – Australia’s national research organisation – will see Australian technology adopted in Japan. The system – from meat industry computer solutions company Thorsys – labels beef cuts with barcodes (pictured above) to improve animal trace-back and hence raise consumer confidence. The technology is also endorsed in the United States by the US Department of Agriculture.
“It’s a piece of USDA-approved plastic printed with USDA-approved ink that sits on top of the cut of meat,” says Terry Farrell at Thorsys. “It can tell you where and when the animal was slaughtered and also where it was born.”
Australia’s dairy and meat produce are staples in the Japanese diet, and these industries have reaped substantial returns for Japanese investors.
Australia ranks third in world dairy trade. More than half of the nation’s annual milk production is exported – 925,000 tonnes of processed dairy products valued at A$2.5bn, to more than 120 countries in 2002/3.
Australia is the world’s largest beef exporter, supplying more than 100 markets globally.
In the value-added meat sector, Japan is Australia’s biggest export destination, accounting for 36% of exports in 2003.
“Japan has typically been Australia’s most valuable beef market, but growth in the value of this market hit record highs this year,” says David Crombie, Chairman of Meat and Livestock Australia. He also reports unprecedented growth in lamb and offal exports to Japan.
Disease-free
A major attraction of Australian meat products is our reputation for being free of diseases such as Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) and Foot and Mouth Disease. This is a major driver in Nippon Meat Packers Inc’s decision to invest a further A$40m in its existing operations in Australia, expanding its beef processing capacity to meet the growing demand for Australian beef in Japan. This project is expected to be completed in 2008.
Japanese investment
Japanese-owned feedlotter Rockdale Beef is testimony to the value of Australia’s emphasis on safety and integrity.
Two Japanese companies, Itoham Food Japan Inc and Mitsubishi Corporation, invested in the Australian-based feedlotter 16 years ago because of concerns about disease in beef herds globally, and also because of Australia’s recognised capacity to export beef protein, says Paul Troja, General Manager of Rockdale Beef.
“Australia is a disease-free country, it’s clean and green, it exports over half of its total beef production and it’s in the same time zone as Japan,” says Troja.
RECIPE: Cooking at home
with prime Aussie beef
Aussie Beef Vege Roll with other beef recipes by Harumi Kurihara, available at >> www.aussiebeef.jp
Harumi Kurihara’s ‘Aussie Beef Vege Rolls’ are quick and easy to make. You will need:
Ingredients:
- 32 slices of thinly sliced Aussie Beef, salt, pepper
- 8 sticks of green asparagus
- 1 eggplant, 1 zucchini
- 16 pods of kidney beans,
vegetable oil
Method:
1. Cut hard end off asparagus and remove any outside leaves. Remove stem from eggplant and divide both eggplant and zucchini into eight lengths. Remove kidney beans from pods.
2. Lightly sprinkle salt and pepper on beef.
3. Roll vegetables from (1) in beef from (2). Include two pods’ worth of kidney beans per roll.
4. Place finished rolls from (3) on a hot oiled fry pan or grill, frying both sides until brown and serve with Japanese pepper sauce or basil sauce.
Securing supply and the quality of product was also an attraction for the Japanese investors.
“That’s why there have been major investments in Australian beef production not only by this company but also by other Japanese companies,” says Troja.
It has certainly proven to be a good investment move; Itoham Food Japan Inc’s turnover last year was approximately US$4.5bn.
Innovation and technology
Innovation and new technologies are key drivers of Australia’s international competitiveness. Farmers are engaged in an ongoing campaign to safeguard Australia’s vital agricultural sector against disease and improve the quality and appeal of products.
In particular, Australia has been at the forefront of livestock traceability for more than 40 years (see panel), tracing meat from the plate back to the farm. And current research with the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is investigating the use of novel biosensors to monitor quality in the supply chain.
The dairy industry has also developed a range of new technologies which underpin long-term competitiveness. In addition to private R&D, ‘Dairy Australia’, an industry-owned service company whose members are farmers and industry bodies, invests around A$30m annually in dairy R&D on behalf of the industry.
Strong food standards and safety regimes are also enforced. For example, the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service – the Australian Government agency responsible for food hygiene, safety regulation and certification – has implemented a major program to ensure food exports are of high quality and disease-free. As part of this program, carcass surfaces of all species of livestock slaughtered in Australia for export are tested for generic E. coli and salmonella.
Article by Invest Australia.
>> www.investaustralia.gov.au
