3 minute read
Meet the Buyer
Nearly 500 delegates and 80 exhibitors join the inaugural event.
f CRYSTAL and Paul Glavocich, from Glavocich Produce at the inaugural Meet the Buyer.
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showcases WA’s finest food and beverages
BY GEORGIA THOMAS DIRECTOR, FRESH CREATIVE MANAGEMENT
For the first time ever, West Australian food and beverage producers converged for the biggest and most diverse showcase of the state’s quality products in one place. Meet the Buyer showcased around 450 products at Crown Perth on Wednesday 27 October.
Presented through the Buy West Eat Best program, Meet the Buyer provided a face-to-face and virtual networking platform for all WA food and beverage businesses, including industry associations, producers, wineries, brewers, farmers, independent and national retailers, artesian crafters, distributors, chefs, sommeliers, educators and caterers; that service both domestic and international markets.
Buyers were able to discover a range of quality products that have been grown, farmed, fished, processed and prepared here in WA.
Industry organisations such as WA Potatoes, Stonefruit WA and WA Citrus joined the exhibitors to network and connect with potential business contacts on behalf of growers. “Meet the Buyer is WA’s first-ever agri-food industry exhibition and networking event, and has been met with overwhelming support from trade, business and industry,” said Deborah Pett, Manager Food Industry Development, Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development.
f JORDAN Bruno, MC.
f WELCOME to Country.
f SIMON Moltoni and Morena Perdec, WA Potatoes.
vegetablesWA Chief Executive Officer Manus Stockdale said the event was a great showcase of what Western Australia produces. It was great to see grower members and other industry bodies partaking in the event, and next year vegetablesWA will strive to have an exhibition. “It was excellent to see so many people participating in the event, showcasing new and exciting products. I was delighted to see several grower members taking part in the event, and this sort of event is a great opportunity for them to network and identify new business,” Mr Stockdale said. “vegetablesWA only attended as delegates, but after seeing the benefit of the event, we are keen to have a display at the next Meet the Buyer Exhibition”. While common on the East Coast and ASEAN, an industry expo of this scale has not previously been delivered in WA. Meet the Buyer comes at an opportune time to facilitate the WA food and beverage industry to realise, establish and grow new markets, that will benefit the WA economy. The value of Australia’s food and grocery manufacturing industry has grown by 4% to almost $133 billion, for the 12 months up to 2019/20, according to new data from the Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC, 2021). Locally, COVID-19 and subsequent lockdowns spurred an increase in WA consumption through supermarket channels, food service and hospitality, driven by consumer demand.
“It’s no secret WA consumers are loyal and fiercely parochial in support of local, with 8 in 10 retail shoppers actively seeking products and ingredients that carry the distinctive bite mark logo of Buy West Eat Best,” says Ms Pett. “Western Australia is blessed with an enviable diversity of counter-seasonal offers bursting with flavour, freshness and finesse. Our geographical vastness and dramatic climate variance make for products of distinction, toiled with passion and crafted with A great showcase of what Western Australia produces. innovation,” she said. Originally scheduled for this time last year, the inaugural Meet the Buyer coincides with Buy West Eat Best month (1–31 October celebrating 13 years of the program), with the one-day format in October the least conflicting with agriculture and horticulture harvests, vintage, and prefestive season retail pressures. The event is expected to grow in the future with international and national delegates once again able to participate.
MORE INFORMATION
Go to www.meetthebuyer.com.au
