Woolworths found success at the Naturally Good Expo a the ICC in Sydney on May 31, with the ‘Meet the Buyer’ event hosted by the Food & Agribusiness Growth Centre (trading as FIAL). The event consisted of an industry briefing on Woolworths’ health food strategy and on how to become a supplier to Woolworths.
FIAL’s General Manager of Commercial, Rod Arenas, hosted the ‘Meet the Buyer’ event and said it was a rare opportunity for Australian suppliers to connect with the Woolworths team.
“Our ‘Meet the Buyer’ events are aimed at accelerating commercially driven collaboration by removing the gate keeper and placing companies in front of retail buyers,” said Arenas.
Participants had the opportunity to network with Woolworths FoodCo managers, developers and technologists and hear about the direction of the health and wellness industry from one of Australia’s leading retailers.
Woolworths General Manager of Marketing Peter Hathaway delivered a presentation covering the retailer’s competitiveness plan and big picture overview of Woolworths’ health and wellness direction and Macro wholefoods company opportunities for suppliers moving forward.
The event provided an opportunity for food, beverage and agribusiness suppliers across Australia to attend an information session, outlining strategies, markets and opportunities via Woolworths.
Many secured one-on-one meetings to discuss and showcase brands on offer thanks to the collaboration with the Food and Agribusiness Growth Centre – trading as FIAL.
FIAL’s mandate is to catalyse business growth. A key way to deliver this is to enhance the capacity and skills to support the market-readiness of businesses in the sector. “We have hosted countless ‘Meet the Buyer’ bringing Australian businesses and buyers together.
We found during 2020 the need for this type of forum escalated with travel restrictions. So we took these online as ‘Virtual Meet the Buyer’ . The interest and response has been overwhelming and we’re thrilled to see this help so many businesses thrive despite Covid.”
The Food and Agribusiness Growth Centre trading as FIAL is a not-for-profit company responsible for delivering the activities of the Federal Government’s sector policy and part of industry innovation and competitiveness agenda.
FIAL’s purpose is to catalyse growth of businesses along the agri-food value chain – from paddock to plate – looking to add value.
“We do this through sharing technical and commercial insights and knowledge to help grow business; building capacity and skills of individuals, businesses, regions, and the sector to unlock potential; and in creating connections between those parties required to accelerate growth – businesses, researchers, markets and buyers”. said Arenas.
The health and wellness event was exclusive to Naturally Good and FIAL is looking to facilitate further engagement at Fine Food Sydney in September 2021. For those interested in these forums, the best way to stay connected is by registering through the Australian Food & Beverage Catalogue or head to www.fial.com.au