In today’s talking points: Federal Government funding package to lift wine exports and tourism; China becoming more cheesy; China: Farmers to receive subsidies for processing animal waste into fertiliser and energy; Brazilian meat exports to China set to receive boost.
Federal Government funding package to lift wine exports and tourism
The AU$50 million Export and Regional Wine Support Package was launched by the Federal Government in the last week, aiming to boost wine exports to a record AU$ 3.5 billion. This package includes significant funding to market Australian Wine to the United States and China in the next three years.
The Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources Barnaby Joyce says the Package seeks to grow all export wine markets by 8 per cent by 2022, including 17 and 6 percent to China and the US respectively.
South Australian Wine Industry Association chief executive Brian Smedley believes the future is bright for Australian wine exports to China, citing the increasingly large middle class in China as a direct source for the increase in export numbers.
The Export and Regional Wine Support Package will also offer state-based funding to improve wine tourism and entice international tourists. The ambitious goal is set to bring 40,000 additional tourists to the wine regions of Australia, generating an estimated AU$ 170 million to local economies.
Read more at: ABC News
China becoming more cheesy
Although dairy products have never been a staple food in China, Chinese people have been experiencing a westernisation in their diets in the recent years. The lack of pre-conceived ideas of how dairy products should be eaten has unexpectedly caused significant innovation in the development and applications of dairy products, with New Zealand dairy giant Fonterra capitalising on this progress.
Fonterra has announced the opening of its new, state-of-art cream cheese plant, worth AU$ 140 million, in Victoria as it seeks to build on its already strong position in the Chinese dairy market. Fonterra’s Director of Global Foodservice, Grant Watson believes the opening of the cheese plant to be just in time to benefit from the increasing preference for cheese and other milk-based products in both China and the rest of Asia.
Read more at: The Independent (Ireland)
China: Farmers to receive subsidies for processing animal waste into fertiliser and energy
In an attempt to reduce the levels of agricultural pollution, China’s government announced it will provide subsidies to build animal waste processing facilities to treat waste and produce fertilisers, as well as to install biogas plants which use methane as a fuel source. Those who research and use organic fertilisers will also receive preferential treatments on loans, taxes, power and land rent, according to Zhong Luqing, the Director of the Fertiliser Department at the Ministry of Agriculture. China has targeted zero growth of chemical fertilisers and pesticides by 2020.
Read more at: Reuters
Brazilian meat exports to China set to receive boost
President Xi Jinping has recently announced an increase in the number of meatpacking plants permitted to export to China, according to Blairo Maggi, Brazil’s Agriculture Minister. Although unable to elaborate on the terms of the agreement, he stated that President Xi was a big fan of Brazilian meat, and that this decision was possible due to numerous trips by Brazilian delegates to China. This announcement is set to be a big boost to Brazil’s meat export industry, which has been rocked earlier this year due to lax food health inspections.
Read more at: Reuters