Following the launch of the Food Innovation Precinct Western Australia (FIPWA) in the Murray Shire, industry, academia, and government came together to share information on programs that will be run in the precinct.
Shire of Murray CEO Dean Unsworth said the sole objective of FIPWA was to grow agrifood businesses through R&D commercialisation, product development, innovation, trade, and export.
“To realise this goal, we needed to activate and sustain a meaningful coalition of partners that can support the industry. I am pleased that this collaboration which includes local and state government has also brought together the private sector that will strengthen the business ecosystem at FIPWA,” Unsworth said.
Value-added, functional foods, nutrition, technology adoption, trading, export markets, packaging, and sustainability were some of the key issues discussed at the roundtable, all under the banner of enabling agrifood businesses access to structured programs and sessions at the FIPWA, from early-stage start-ups to scale ups, export orientation and more.
The programs will vary in duration, level of commitment, and costs. Businesses associated with FIPWA, and their partners are encouraged to apply for the Enterprise Support Program for co-funding support.
Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) executive director, Agribusiness, Food and Trade, Liam O’Connell, said FIPWA was an “exciting step”.
“This leading-edge precinct will support our State’s innovative food and beverage businesses to develop and commercialise new products – particularly with the addition of the new Food Technology Facility.
“DPIRD encourages start-ups and agrifoood businesses to explore how FIPWA and any programs, courses and events held there can help take their enterprises to the next level and drive growth and opportunities.”
While some programs have opened for applications, others are set to come online in the coming months. Collaborators are also working on new ways to fill gaps in the market to further enable agrifood businesses to grow.
Some programs that have launched are:
HARVEST Accelerator program, targeted at the AgriTech sector and delivered by Agristart;
Canning Business Mentoring Program via the City of Canning, with its SPRINT program delivered by Spacecubed, and Scale, delivered by Triangle Equity Partners;
SCALEUPWA: Transformation & Export Readiness Capability Building Programme from Triangle Equity Partners; and
Export Pathways Program, run by the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD).
Workspace and incubator company Spacecubed’s founder and managing director, Brodie McCulloch said FIPWA offered the opportunity for new products to be developed, “from idea or research all the way through manufacturing, packaging, and distribution”.
“I am excited about some of the programs to be developed to reduce the barrier for people starting up new, and innovative, food enterprises and look forward to the Spacecubed community being able to access these amazing facilities and support programs,” McCulloch said.
Greg Riebe – Partner, Triangle Equity Partners partner, Greg Reibe said the precinct was an impressive facility and a great resource for the state.
“Triangle Equity Partners, through its ScaleUpWA program , is pleased to collaborate with FIPWA to help these WA food & beverage businesses to get scale, create and capture value business value through transformation and export,” Riebe said.
