The secret to getting ahead is getting started and I am reminded of this when I recall the words imparted upon me by a very wise man a number of years ago. He told me that I needed to understand that life isn’t what you’re given, it’s what you create and what you conquer and what you achieve.
We have an opportunity in Tasmania with our new “regime of leadership” to provide inspiration, innovation and the support to change the face of Tasmanian agriculture and the local economy in general.
Value adding has been lamented by many as the irrefutable missing link from the Tasmanian agricultural supply chain strategy along with a viable, common sense and properly supported transport system across the Bass.
What makes Tasmania different is what makes it exceptional and by that I mean that it has an exceptional Brand name reputation for green, clean and safe food but that is only half of the equation. Tasmania now needs to apply that by transferring it into modern day market expectation and that means value adding it by way of pre prepared food, retort packaged meals or the investment in new technology such as microwave assisted sterilisation - MATS etc. The world is a fast moving place and people are better informed and specific as to their needs.
So here’s the issue! ….. Time to join the rest of the world’s innovatively driven economy.
I’m no doubt going to attract a good deal of acrimony here from those who seem to have already made up their minds to “fail” and want the rest of us to join them. I’d like to say to these people that the Universe is not punishing you, or blessing you, it’s simply responding to the vibrational attitude that you are emitting. Mark Twain was once quoted as saying “never argue with negative people, they will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience!” …… So what’s my point?
The existing agri-food sector is vulnerable due to its current dependence on vertically integrated, externally controlled supply chains and our addiction to supplying the fresh produce market, particularly in the agricultural industry. Such supply chains make up a vast component of our regional and national economy and we should therefore continue to encourage and invest in such supply chains however value adding would allow our Agricultural industry to;
Charge more,
Utilise the inexcusable waste of so called “seconds” costing our growers millions of dollars each season and
Allow perishable produce to become a product with longer shelf life and reach markets further away.
Flow-on benefits would include creating a whole new Tasmanian-owned processing, or some form of value added industry, and valuable sustainable jobs and revenue for the Tasmanian economy.
The problem? …… We stop at the “what” and do not get too involved in the “how“ so a key way of dealing with this is to implement strategies to engage withlocally based stakeholders and involve them in the processes.
What do I mean by this?
A personal observation would suggest that a large number of growers continuously fret over lower than profitable margins and wasted crops and then go out and grow the same crop year after year with the same results. There also appears to be an habitual ritual around updating the farming equipment every two years or so because the accountant has some magical formulae to reduce depreciation costs.
So? …. What if the growers got together and invested in the processing industry themselves? I don’t mean running it but providing the funding to get the right people and technology on board so they would be creating more demand for their own produce through an industry owned for the most part by them and not likely to bugger off and leave them in the lurch! Our Agricultural Associations collect millions of dollars from Levees so how about using those funds innovatively for the next couple of years and …” invest in ourselves” by backing the resurrection of our own fully owned processing Industry.??