The $126 billion food and grocery sector's value to Australian manufacturing has grown by over 30 per cent in seven years, according to an EY report released by the AFGC this week.
And food and grocery represented 30 per cent of total Australian manufacturing in 2014-15.
“Employing over 300,000 Australians, the sector’s Industry value-add of $29 billion was almost three times higher than the next largest manufacturing subsector – machinery and equipment and fabricated metal," Tanya Barden, who will soon step up as the AFGC's CEO, said.
“Importantly this report shows that Australia’s $126 billion food and grocery industry is likely to play an increasingly important role in Australia’s future manufacturing base as traditional manufacturing areas of strength like the car sector moves off shore, and export demand for our food and grocery products increases.”
Andrew Metcalfe AO, Federal Government lead partner, and agribusiness lead partner at EY, said that “analysis conducted by EY has found that in Australia’s reputation as a producer of clean and green products remains a key international advantage and combined with rising global demand for food gives Australia a great opportunity to drive jobs and investment growth for the future.”
While domestic conditions remain challenging, food and grocery processing is an area of strong export growth, with an 11 per cent surge in food and beverage exports to $26 billion last year.
FAST FACTS:
- Many manufacturing subsectors in Australia have experienced internal and external economic shocks, while food, beverage and groceries have been largely resilient to these, benefiting from growth in Asian demand.
- The food and beverage subsector receives a limited amount of operational government funding proportional to its economic contribution, according to the AFGC.
