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Australia - Food Facts
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Demographics
Australia with 20 million people has the world's 15th largest economy and the world's 5th largest land mass. Recently the economy has enjoyed a healthy annual growth rate of 3-4%.
Climate
Although predominantly arid, Australia has a range of climates and land types. These range from northern tropical areas, through high rainfall coastal regions, to arid and semi-arid climates, most of which are used for food production.
Size of Food Industry
The food industry is a vital part of the Australian economy. The processed food and beverage industry is Australia's largest manufacturing industry and about 22% of these products are exported. The processed food industry is one of only two Australian manufacturing sectors that are net exporters. The industry employs 192,000 people directly in food manufacturing. About 17% of the total manufacturing workforce is employed in food processing. Sales of Australian food within Australia in 2003 were $80.4 billion. Outside companies own about 70% of Australia's food manufacturing sector.
A breakdown of the food processing industry in Australia:
Sector
|
Turnover
(2000-01) AUD$millions |
| Bakery products |
3 466 |
| Beverage and malt manufacturing |
9 754 |
| Dairy products |
8 458 |
| Flour mill and cereal food manufacturing |
3 737 |
| Fruit and vegetable processing |
4 484 |
| Meat and meat products |
13 039 |
| Oil and fat manufacturing |
2 088 |
| Seafood processing |
1 168 |
| Sugar and confectionary manufacturing |
3 175 |
| Other food manufacturing |
5 924 |
| Total |
55 292 |
Global Share of Food Trade
Australia has an approximately 2.7% share of world food trade. Food exports grew by an average 6% each year in the ten years ending in 2002. The value of Australian food exports in 2003-04 was $21.1 billion
Australia's food trade is mostly focused on north Asian Pacific Rim countries. APEC countries account for over 67.2 per cent of Australia's food exports.
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Farming in Australia
There are about 120,000 farms in Australia. The beef cattle farming industry remained the largest in terms of farm numbers, with around 27% of all farms. The mixed farming sector (grain-sheep/beef cattle) was the next largest with around 12% of all farms, followed by the grain sector with 11%.
Agriculture is an important sector for the Australian economy, generating up to $39 billion in gross value each year. Farming employs around 370,000 people across Australia.
Most farms in 2003-04 were between 100 and 499 hectares in size, and accounted for 42,400 farms (or 32%). These farms were mainly engaged in beef cattle grazing, dairying, sheep grazing or mixed grain-sheep/beef cattle growing.
Small farms under 50 hectares were the second main size group and accounted for 25,100 farms (or 19%). These small farms were mainly engaged in grape growing, beef cattle grazing, fruit growing, vegetable growing and plant nursery operations.
Large farms of over 2,500 hectares accounted for 11% (14,700) of all farms and were mainly engaged in grazing or cropping operations.
Beef Industry
Beef is one of Australia's major agricultural industries. It is an extremely diverse industry, ranging from intensively managed small holdings in the south-east of Australia, to extensive large scale unfenced cattle stations where cattle rarely see a human being.
About ninety per cent of all cattle are used for beef. Queensland and New South Wales are Australia's main beef cattle producers, with the Northern Territory contributing ten per cent of the beef cattle market.
In June 2004 the beef cattle herd was expected to number about 23.3 million, down 1% on the 23.6 million animals recorded in June 2003.
During 2003-04, a total of 8.8 million cattle and calves were slaughtered with an estimated value of over AUD$6.0 billion. This slaughter produced just over 2.0 million tonnes of beef and veal in the year. Exports of these products in 2003-04 earned AUD$3.9billion, which was about 3.5% of total merchandise exports, while sales of live cattle to foreign markets raised another AUD$460m.
Meat products (25.2%) and live animals (5%) account for almost one-third of Australia's food exports. Livestock exports grew by 13% in 2003.
After a positive 2004, the Cattle Council of Australia is anticipating strong returns for Australian beef producers in 2005, with incomes for many producers expected to exceed 2004 levels because of continued strong prices and improved levels of cattle turnoff.
Australian beef exports in 2004 are estimated to have increased in volume by 9% and 18% in value. This performance could be matched or even bettered in 2005, depending on factors such as the timing of the re-entry of US beef into Japan, the exchange rate and climatic conditions.
The outlook for Australian beef exports into the US in 2005 remains strong, with the US now being Australia's second largest market for high quality chilled beef, behind Japan. Strong consumer demand, an increasing population and decreasing US beef production are driving higher prices for beef in the US.
Pork Industry
Australia is in the top 25 pork-producing nations in the world and, annually, is worth nearly $1 billion to Australia's economy.
The industry has around 2,300 hog producing enterprises either as specialist producers or as mixed farming operations. The past two decades have seen Australia's herd size remain static but the number of producers owning herds has declined considerably.
The industry produced approximately 5.4 million pigs, equivalent to around 391 200 tonnes (carcass weight) during the 12 months to March 2005. The hog industry is likely to experience steady growth and producers are likely to continue expanding their herds for the remainder of 2005.
The Australian pig industry experienced difficult times throughout 2002-03 due to drought and increased competition with imports from Canada and Denmark. Industry estimates that imports account for close to 50% of processed product consumed domestically.
Approximately 40 per cent of pig meat consumption is from the fresh pork market, with the remaining 60 per cent from processed pork products.
The export market has been an important market segment for the Australian pork industry traditionally accounting for around 20% of Australia's production but the high $AUD and solid international competition have led to a reduction in exports. For the 12 months to March 2005, exports accounted for just under 16% of production, with a value of around $172 million.
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Dairy Industry
The number of dairy cattle in Australia total about 3.1 million head. Victoria has the majority of milk cattle, with its herd steady at 1.9 million (60%). The number of dairy farms has more than halved over the past two decades, from 22,000 in 1980 to fewer than 10,000 in 2004.
The Australian dairy industry continues to rank as the third most important rural industry at the farm gate - valued at $2.8 billion in 2003/04 - and the fifth most important for exports - valued at $2.4 billion. The domestic retail market for major dairy products totalled $3.5 billion in 2003/04 - 3.9% up on the previous year.
Australia exports more than 50 per cent of its annual milk production and more than 65 per cent of its output of manufactured products. It ranks third in the world dairy trade with a 13% share of all dairy product exports. Australia has expanded exports to include Mexico resulting from import restrictions placed on milk products from United States and Canada due to BSE.
Crops & Cereals
Crop growing contributes to over fifty per cent of the value of Australian agriculture every year. Wheat (13.1 million hectares) and barley (4.5 million hectares) are the two main crops grown in Australia. Canola (1.2 million hectares) is increasing in popularity with production up nearly 100% (96%) over the previous year.
Grain crops are spread evenly across New South Wales, South Australia, Victoria, Western Australia and Queensland.
Cereals account for almost one-quarter of Australia's food exports (with wheat being Australia's largest grain crop, worth $4 billion annually).
Wine
The Australian wine industry is the fastest growing wine exporter in the world. Alcohol and wine currently account for only 10.6% of Australia's exports but wine (27% of this category) has been experiencing the fastest annual growth of any food and beverage category.
Australian wines are now the number one imported wines in the United Kingdom and the United States, and are making an increased impact in Asia.
Australia has 1,900 wineries with four wineries controlling 80 per cent of the market.
Indigenous Food
Recently there has been recognition of the food value of Australia's indigenous flora and fauna. Kangaroo and crocodile, for example, are now accepted meat products. The 'bush foods' industry has worked to integrate a wide range of native products into the broader Australian food industry.
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