Demand for Australian meat in South East Asia will continue to be driven by growth in disposable income.
A recent Regional Economic Outlook conducted by IMF showed that economic growth in the SEA region is expected to be 5.3 per cent in 2016 and 2017, accounting for almost two-thirds of global growth.
Demand for Australian meat products is high in South-East Asia, with Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) reporting that in 2015 Australia sent 57,136 tonnes swt of beef to the region, totalling an export value of AUD$379 million.
Roughly 73 per cent of Australian beef shipments to the region have been frozen product, but there is also an emerging demand for chilled foods.
The addition of chilled products is underpinned by improving chilled supply chains, increases in upmarket retail stores, and restaurants/hotels catering for tourists and expatriates, according to the MLA.
However, Australia will continue to face competition from other beef suppliers such as India and Brazil.
Dynamic developments
Companies such as Dematic have released automation solutions such as the Meat Buffer, which enables meat processors to prepare for export with on-time delivery and quality.
The Meat Buffer is a feature of the company's fully automated cold chain storage and dispatch service.
Its upgraded facility can handle more than 10,000 cartons per day and store several thousand cartons.
The Multishuttle system can handle frozen meat cartons up to 27 kilograms and ensures cold chain compliance is maintained.
Improvements in product shelf life have also been achieved due to the movement away from manual operations.
