Australia’s reputation for premium food and beverage products continues to attract buyers from across the globe. To capitalise on this, Export Connect, in partnership with State Trade Agencies and Industry Associations, has facilitated inbound missions with buyers from key retailers and distributors from priority ASEAN and GCC markets.
Representatives from Little Farms (Singapore), Lulu Hypermarket (GCC), Dai Thanh (Vietnam), PT Sumber Mutu Utama (Indonesia), Dairy Farm International (Singapore), Jaya Grocer (Malaysia), and Chef’s Garden (Hong Kong) each visited Australia to meet directly with Australian food manufacturers, visit supermarkets and source innovative F&B products.
We asked buyers; Why Australia?
- Reputation: Australia is globally recognised as a source of premium, high-quality food and beverage products. From artisanal small-batch producers to large-scale manufacturers, “Australian Made” exemplifies trust, quality, and craftsmanship to buyers and consumers alike.
- Safe and natural: One of the most compelling reasons international buyers consistently turn to Australia is our global reputation as a safe and ‘natural’ food-producing nation. This is backed by our strict environmental and agricultural standards, low population density and natural biodiversity and clean-label product development.
- Provenance: Buyers increasingly prioritise products with transparent origins. Australia’s producers are often able to share provenance and paddock-to-plate stories that highlight points of difference and attract interest.
- Proximity: Compared to brands sourced from competing markets such as the UK, EU and USA, transit times and freight rates from Australia are much quicker and often cheaper. This simplifies the buyers’ order forecasting, maximises product shelf life and reduces supply chain costs.
What are the key product attributes that the buyers value most?
- Functional Health Benefits: Buyers are looking for products that go beyond basic nutrition – functional foods fortified with probiotics, protein, botanicals or enhanced vitamin/mineral profiles are in high demand.
- Clean-Label & Provenance Credentials: Consumers in all our target markets are becoming more discerning. Clean-label ingredients, transparent supply chains and unique provenance claims command premium shelf space.
- Convenience & Ready-to-Eat Format: On-the-go lifestyles are on the rise from Jakarta to Riyadh. Single-serve snack packs, chilled ready meals and ambient meal kits save time for busy urban consumers, and Australian producers are quick to adopt this format. Buyers want convenient solutions that maintain freshness and extend shelf life – without the added numbers.
What do buyers look for in a supplier?
- Low MOQ’s: Buyers from our priority markets are keen to trial new and niche brands, but often require flexibility on MOQ’s in the first year as brand awareness increases and order volumes grow. They must balance listing new brands with the risk of being stuck with excess stock.
- Pricing that represents value for money: Cost of living pressures is a worldwide challenge. While Australian products will rarely be ‘cheap’, we still have to demonstrate why consumers should pay a premium price to trial and continue to buy our products.
- Promotional support: Many of the brands of interest identified by the buyers have attributes unique to their category or a provenance story that their consumers will not know. As such, it is important to educate their shoppers by regularly raising awareness via sampling, in-store promotions, competitions and social media activations.
To help Australian producers seize these opportunities, Export Connect will be facilitating two export capability-building workshops at Fine Food 2025. These sessions will feature insights from leading retailers/distributors across priority markets. Attendees will gain firsthand knowledge of consumer preferences, channel dynamics, category growth areas, and what international buyers look for in a supplier, including how to successfully engage and build long-term partnerships with them.
Our workshops will also spotlight successful Australian exporters, who will share real-world strategies on market selection, entry pathways, pricing models, and more.
We hope to see you at Fine Food 2025!
Learn more about Export Connect on their website