Issue No 4, July 1995.

NOTICE: Hard copies of the Australian New Crops Newsletter are available from the publisher, Dr Rob Fletcher. Details of availability are included in the Advice on Publications Available.

9. Market-Driven Approach to New Crop Selection

Geraldine Pasqual
Western Australian Department of Agriculture
3 Baron Hay Court
South Perth 6151 WA

Trying to identify potential new crops is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Where does the opportunist start? The approach of the Western Australian Department of Agriculture has been to start at the market place and use demand for a product as a key criterion for the initial screening.

Asia promises new and developing markets for food products. The economies of Asian countries are flourishing and consumers have increased disposable income for higher quality, value-added food products. The combined Asian food markets were worth approximately $US600 billion in 1991 and are expected to grow by another $US160 billion per year by the year 2000.

The growth in Asian food markets is being driven both by an increasing population and the greater disposable incomes in Asian countries. This trend is translating into greater per capita food consumption, with consumers demanding greater variety, better quality and more processed convenience foods.

Traditional food products remain the mainstay of the Asian diet but Asians are responding to western nutritional styles. This is due to the higher percentage of working women and smaller households, and a growing priority being placed on convenience foods.

Identifying crop opportunities with good export prospects relies on ascertaining their demand by overseas consumers. A two-year Asian Food Study, jointly funded by the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation (RIRDC) and the Western Australian Department of Agriculture commenced in June 1993. The study aimed to identify Asian-style food opportunities and encourage industry to explore the opportunities. From surveys of supermarkets and wet markets in Singapore, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Japan, a comprehensive inventory of over 1000 Asian-style food opportunities has been complied. About 70% of these opportunities are plant-based products.

The definition of Asian-style foods includes:

Traditional foods derived from Asian cultures
'New generation' Asian foods e.g. Asian foods modified for modern society to provide health benefits (such as low-salt soya sauce) or packed for long-term storage and convenience (such as curry in a retort pouch)
Western-style foods flavoured for Asian tastes (such as durian-flavoured ice-cream).

The Western Australian Department of Agriculture has developed an Asian Food Database to provide easy access to the large volumes of information collected on Asian-style food opportunities. The database was developed using Microsoft Access, a relational database management system for Microsoft Windows. The database is currently not available for general distribution although ways of improving access to it are being reviewed.

The Asian Food Database provides access to product information contained in the data elements:

Product classification (Standard International Trade Classification-SITC code)
Product description
Ingredients
Manufacturer name and location
Sales location, price and date.

In order to build the database in the specified time and to avoid the duplication of information, limits were placed on the information collected.

Each product type is unique in the database - there is only one entry for each type of product unless it has a unique value (e.g. only one entry for soya sauce but a separate entry for low-salt soya sauce)
Price information is limited to retail prices, which need to be used with caution as they may reflect the store's pricing policy, and with fresh produce may fluctuate with seasonal availability
Availability of a product in a certain country may not necessarily mean it is in demand (e.g. some of the products surveyed in supermarkets may be new or 'on-trial')
Fresh product information is limited to the season covered by the market survey
Food products in demand by the food service sector and exotic or medicinal food preparations are not covered.

The database is being used by the Department and the agri-food industry to:

Identify the range and types of Asian-style food opportunities for further classification and ranking of their potential
Identify food opportunities that use current commodities; enabling producers to target markets earlier e.g. identifying the noodle wheat market has benefited our producers as exemplified by the premiums paid for noodle wheat
Identify food opportunities that may use new or 'neglected' commodities; this may open new markets and fuel demand for commodities, such as lupins, which could substitute for soybeans in a wide range of Asian foods such as tempeh or miso.

Chances of successful outcomes may be improved by using a market-driven approach as a first step in establishing potential new crop opportunities. The Asian Food Database has proved to be a useful starting point for identifying new crop opportunities for food markets in Asia.

Any claims made by authors in the Australian New Crops Newsletter are presented by the Editors in good faith. Readers would be wise to critically examine the circumstances associated with any claims to determine the applicability of such claims to their specific set of circumstances. This material can be reproduced, with the provision that the source and the author (or editors, if applicable) are acknowledged and the use is for information or educational purposes. Contact with the original author is probably wise since the material may require updating or amendment if used in other publications. Material sourced from the Australian New Crops Newsletter cannot be used out of context or for commercial purposes not related to its original purpose in the newsletter

Contact: Dr Rob Fletcher, School of Land and Food, The University of Queensland Gatton College, 4345; Telephone: 07 5460 1311 or 07 5460 1301; Facsimile: 07 5460 1112; International facsimile: 61 7 5460 1112; Email: r.fletcher@mailbox.uq.edu.au

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originally created by: GK; latest update 6 June 1999 by: RF