Notes On Unit 1 – Australian Food Industry

Resource Description

Unit 1 – The Australian Food Industry

• Sectors of the Australian food industry

• Sectors of the agri-food chain in the Australian food industry, including agriculture and fisheries, food processing/manufacturing, food service and catering, food retail.     

The agri-food chain refers to the production and supply of food for individual and consumer use. It consists of four mains sectors: 

• Agriculture and fisheries
• Food processessing and manufacturing 
• Food service and catering
• Food retail

All four sectors are interdependent meaning if something goes wrong in one sector all the other sectors will suffer too- affecting production, manufacturing and ultimately sales and income.

Agriculture and Fisheries

• Agriculture = cultivation of land to produce crops and/or animals. 
• Fisheries = cultivation of fish and other marine species usually for a commercial or scientific purpose. 
• Cereals, dairy and meat are the most significant products in the agri-food chain.
• Key features include:

• “Clean green image”
• Availability of fertile land and unpolluted waterways 
• Technological development compensating for harsh climates (e.g. irrigation, genetic engineering, farming equipment)
• Primary industries contributing significantly to Australian economy 

• Plant production involves: preparing soil, selecting seed, sowing, fertilizing, irrigation, harvesting, storage and transportation
• Australia’s main crops- wheat, oats, barley, rice, maize and sorghum. 
• Animal production involves: production/supply of feed and water, breeding, treating illness/disease and transportation to sale yards, abattoirs, etc. 
• Main meat exports- beef, lamb, pork and poultry. Also small-scale production of venison, kangaroo and emu for the gourmet food industry. 
• Majority of milk is exported in form of cheese, milk powder, butter and products such as casein and whey powder.
• Industrial fisheries catch fish destined for products rather than for human consumption e.g. fish oil, fish fertiliser for the garden 
• Aquaculture is an area growing in popularity and involves cultivating and harvesting aquatic plants (e.g. seaweed, marine algae) or animals (e.g. clams, oysters and salmon).