With travel restrictions and the cancellation of tradeshow after tradeshow preventing food and beverage businesses from meeting buyers to secure international trade deals, Food Innovation Australia Limited (FIAL) has stepped up to address this urgent need for market connectivity.
Leveraging their Australian Food Catalogue, FIAL has refreshed the features with numerous advancements, pioneering new territory within the food and agriculture industry. These capabilities will facilitate Australian suppliers to connect with international buyers, securing the trade deals essential to their bottom lines.
This free digital platform facilitates collective sourcing by connecting qualified international buyers with Australian export-ready food & beverage suppliers.
The only one of its kind in Australia, the Food Catalogue is endorsed by Austrade and many state agencies across the country.
“Increased digital connectivity has allowed more of us to work from home. The sector wants online solutions that deliver tangible outcomes in accelerating commercially driven collaboration. FIAL continues to utilise opportunities to transform current models to achieve strategic industry growth,” said general manager commercial, Rod Arenas.
Thanks to exciting new features such as product videos, an instant chat function, and the ability for suppliers to submit applications to sourcing requests, it is now even easier for businesses to have a targeted approach to global growth.
“We have seen a sharp increase in buyers registering for the platform since travel restrictions came into effect. Australian products are still in demand and the Australian Food Catalogue is the digital bridge to accessing these opportunities, providing the sector with the resources to remain resilient and competitive,” said Arenas.
In addition to the redeveloped Australian Food Catalogue, FIAL is also ensuring Australian businesses can still connect with markets by hosting a series of virtual ‘Meet-the-Buyer’ events. Exporters can attend a one-to-one video conference with qualified buyers from various international markets. The recent pilot event received an overwhelming response from industry, with an oversubscription of companies reflecting the high demand for initiatives of this kind