Issue No 8, July 1997.

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. Food brokering

Peter Ledingham
Australian Brokerage Services Pty Ltd
67/533 Kent Street
Sydney, NSW 2000 Australia
ACN (Australian Company Number) 065 675 274
Telephone: 02 9264 7474
Facsimile: 02 9267 3485
International fax: 61 2 9267 3485

Food Brokers have recently come of age as an industry and are now represented by the Australian Food Brokers Association. There is an approved brokerage contract and code of ethics to work under. They offer following services to clients:

Market surveys

These surveys involve preliminary investigations of the market in the category identified by the client and could include:

retail price surveys and evaluations of all competitive products;
detailing of the category market size, growth and direction;
interviews with buyers to determine attitudes and requirements and/or
any other market intelligence deemed necessary.

Marketing strategy

This strategy combines the results of the market survey with the client's productive and innovative capacity to determine:

brand and generic potential;
modifications of existing lines or development of new products to add value or convenience or to enable the product to suit the market better;
national or local distribution and sales objectives;
the desirable level of expenditure on advertising and promotion;
product price points and selection of appropriate retailers/wholesalers and/or
other areas of potential benefit.

Head office representation

This service provides initial inquiries and subsequent negotiations including:

the setting-up of trading terms;
the preparation of supporting documentation and statistics;
official submissions and reviews to buyers representing retailers and/or
the negotiation of promotional programs, etc.

Administration

The following services are available:

the processing of orders from customers and the delivery of stock;
the handling of store requests and customer complaints;
reports on ranging, sales and promotional activity; and/or
the provision of feedback on market trends and opportunities.

Field service

The products can be serviced as required in all major New South Wales outlets from Armidale in the north to Griffith in the south. In-store product demonstrations are organised as needed.

Additional services include media advertising, packaging, promotional merchandising, repacking, co-production, cross-marketing and supply of materials as may be practical to the particular product line.

Remuneration can be on one or more of the following bases:

a fixed percentage of net invoice value of the monthly orders;
a monthly retainer;
a fee for service, such as specific prices for market research and reports, product submission and report, demonstrations, etc.
consultancy fees.

Food brokers therefore can add value to the client's production, increase distribution and improve sales by providing ease of use to buyers, retailers and customers of their products. The added client benefits include convenience and professional representation, along with the freedom to concentrate on the production function.

Other food brokers specialise in certain areas, such as food service, pharmaceutical or hardware or many offer further or different services from those described above.

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