Will Hodgman,Premier & Minister for Trade
Tasmania's valuable food and beverage industries have been centre stage at Tokyo's FOODEX Expo, as part of the Tasmanian Government's trade mission to Japan.
More than 75,000 buyers from over 80 countries attend FOODEX and for the first time Tasmania was directly showcased through a 'Tasmania' pavilion at the expo.
With buyers from across Asia and the world at this week's expo, it is a fantastic opportunity for the Tasmanian producers involved. Japan is already Tasmania's most valuable export market for food and beverage products, worth $138 million in 2017-18, and we are planning to further grow this market.
FOODEX forms a key component of the Fruit Growers Tasmania tradeshow model, which aims to provide a platform for small to medium businesses to be exposed to international markets. This allows Tasmanian producers to build a pricing structure, develop importer contacts and gain an understanding of the culture, customer base and way of doing business in Japan.
The Tasmanian Trade Strategy 2019-2025, launched last week, identifies Japan as one of the priority markets for strategic engagement.
With the Tasmanian Liberal Government having a target to increase the farm gate value of the State's agricultural sector to $10 billion a year by 2050, this trade mission is an important part of developing the supply chain which deliver our produce to international markets.
