AusBiz Magazine – November/December 2020

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NEWS+VIEWS | MINING | AGRIBUSINESS | INdustry

p.10 what’s new in mining machinery P.14 myth-busting the hemp industry P.18 the pandemic of the bee world P.24 government, small business and recession p.28 the price of plant power is about to drop

WORLD’S BEE POPULATION FACES A PANDEMIC OF ITS OWN Honey bees are essential for the pollination of about one third of the food we eat, yet their health and ability to pollinate our crops is under serious threat. p18

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AUSBIZ NEWS

BRAINFOOD Bringing you the latest insight and analysis Words: BETHANY PLINT

BUSINESS TRAVEL IN THE AGE OF COVID-19 The tourism sector in Australia is still reeling from the impact of COVID-19 but with border restrictions loosening is returning for leisure travellers.

But what about business travel?

Whether or not a Zoom call can adequately replace an in-person conference or meeting altogether is a separate arguement, but there are still plenty of questions circling around what Australia’s business travel sector will look like in a post-COVID world.

Many businesses within the tourism sector have had to be agile when it comes to navigating through this challenging time. Many travel insurance

providers, for example, have shifted to a closer-to-home approach, extending their offerings to provide support to travellers who may be impacted by COVID-19 during their trips. One in particular has honed in on business travel during the pandemic.

World Travel Protection, previously specialising in international insurance policies, has since redirected its focus to domestic travel insurance for business travellers.

Dr Stephen Rashford, says travellers should assess the entire trip, from arriving at their destination. This could include using a Maxi Cab to put extra space between them and the driver, avoiding public transport, and

monitoring movement through the airport in crowded spaces such as check-in and security screening.

Further, Dr Rashford suggests checking whether the meeting place or conference venue has a COVID-Safe plan. Rooms should have capacity limits with allocated seating. And while it may feel awkward or unusual, Dr Rashford recommends individuals avoid shaking hands with business partners and colleagues.

On an organisational level, Adrian Leach, World Travel Protection’s CEO, strongly encourages businesses to develop and implement an internal education campaign to equip employees with the knowledge and resources needed to conduct business travel safely now and in the future.

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Big spring flush for Australian dairy Australia’s dairy industry is set to break a three-year downturn as milk production climbs above nine billion A newly-released sector report attributes the spike in production to timely rainfall across Australia’s ‘dairy belts’,

Agribusiness banking specialist Rabobank’s senior dairy follows a turnaround in production seen halfway through The report highlights the dairy farming regions in The ongoing recovery in milk supply means Australia’s exportable surplus will alleviate some cost pressures for dairy producers and may also encourage dairy exporters Closer to home, however, sales growth is plateauing

India to begin brewing with Aussie barley The Australian Export Grains Innovation Centre (AEGIC) is in talks with key stakeholders in the Indian brewing and malting

restaurants and cafes remains well below levels in recent years reached its expiry date, the AEGIC swooped in to capitalise on the opportunity that could address the growing demand

Australian barley industry is working to ensure Australia The new trade agreement would go a long way in softening cent of Australian barley in May, and their announcement of a

SMALL BUSINESSES GIVING BACK In a time where some businesses are holding on for dear life, struggling every day to stay afloat, it is incredibly surprising in the most heart-warming way to hear how many of them are taking what little they are making and sharing it with those who might need it more.

Since COVID-19 hit, we’ve seen countless businesses pivot in order to weather the storm but in a rather unanticipated move, a lot have gone down the charitable giving path. It seems these businesses have stayed true to the “we’re all in this together” sentiments from earlier in the year that many have since forgotten.

One such business, Victorian-based tourism operator Kangaroo Jack, has gained a swathe of media attention and even celebrity coverage from their new partnership with a local Indigenous not-for-profit. Teaming up with the Wadawurrung Indigenous Community

at the Narana Aboriginal Cultural Centre, the Torquay tour operator is now manufacturing face masks that feature authentic Indigenous artwork and donating the profits to a community leadership program that supports disadvantaged Indigenous youth in the area.

Reporting a 55% increase in annual profit, Kangaroo Jack’s owner, David Zaffina shares his elation with the success of the partnership, despite having faced dire challenges in recent months: “Only 7 weeks ago, the business was really struggling, surviving on JobKeeper from the devastating effects on the Australian Tourism Industry due to lockdown restrictions in Victoria, so the community has really got behind us and the support has been amazing!”

Another small business, Sydney-based organic skincare brand Aromababy, have opted to add masks to their offerings, too. However, this time

the buyer has the option to choose where their donation goes. For each cotton face mask sold, Aromababy will donate an additional mask to a local hospitality business, or one bottle of Aromababy to a charity caring for mothers and babies during the pandemic.

These are just two of the countless small businesses not only seeing the bigger picture but acting on it to aid others through rough seas.

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Introducing Internet-enabled corrections for your base station • Replaces UHF radios • Works with all brands of GNSS • From $99 + GST per month 6

AusBiz.

Buy online today positionpartners.com.au/mirtk

SPECIAL PROMOTION

MiRTK: A refreshing alternative to UHF radios for RTK corrections IF YOU’VE worked on a construction site with base stations in the past 20 years, there’s a solid chance you’ve worked with UHF radios as well. UHF radios have been a staple for site communications and GNSS (Global Navigation Satelite System) corrections across Australia for years, but that hasn’t made them immune to radio interference, UHF radios have a history of

Yet despite the issues that plague UHF radios, they’re consistently found on construction sites from Sydney to Port Augusta. The main reason why? Nothing was invented to replace them.

WHAT CUSTOMERS HAVE TO SAY: “I’d say, in ideal conditions, UHF and MiRTK are probably the same, the only problem is, we don’t work in ideal conditions and often there’s interference on the UHF and you just don’t get any of those problems on MiRTK.” “MiRTK pretty much runs without a hitch. We haven’t had any problems or black spots that we see with UHF radios. It’s working really well.”

“MiRTK gives us much better signal in areas where we’d previously had to setup radio repeaters. As far as setting up machines to use MiRTK it was really simple and only took a few minutes.”

Everyone in the industry simply accepted that this was the way life was going to be on-site; that the radios were an improvement and they should just be happy they’re not doing things the old-fashioned way. However, when you’re working with a 20-year-old product in the 21st century, you have to wonder why no one has thought of a better option.

Now imagine having a little modem that you slot onto your tripod, plug into your base station (regardless of its age or brand), power it on then leave it to run for up to 20 hours straight. No MiRTK is an annual subscription service, but unlike the UHF radio licences, you don’t have to

TOP BENEFITS OF MIRTK 1. Works with all brands of GNSS 2. Uses all satellite constellations 3. Reliable corrections via internet rather than UHF 4. Simple subscription, no repeaters or complex licences

With pricing from $99 + GST a month, it is a simple and cost effective option that can be swapped between any GNSS system, wherever it’s working, with no additional costs or set up.

Not only this but the MiRTK hardware is brand agnostic, no matter if you have a Topcon, Trimble, Leica, Sokkia, Hemisphere, Carlson or any other brand of GNSS unit, MiRTK will work with it. This saves you having to hire or buy multiple units for the various GNSS units you use regularly. Want to know more? Get in touch the Position Partners team to get all the details. positionpartners.com.au NOV/DEC 2020

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beyond anxiety

BUSINESS IN THE WORKPLACE

REMOTE WORKING: AUSTRALIA’S POST-PANDEMIC REALITY Andy Hurt, Managing Director of communication technology company Poly, shares his predictions for the future of remote working in Australia.

Words: ANDY HURT COVID-19 has caused the biggest disruption to business in living memory.

The impact has advanced far beyond initial predictions to become the biggest economic crisis since the Great Depression with higher job losses and more industries affected.

While coping with the lockdown was the initial focus of most organisations, Australian businesses are now looking to navigate what the new normal will be as we emerge from the pandemic.

With most of the world still at a high level of crisis, what is appropriate for business here? How can Australian companies return to business-as-usual – if that even exists anymore?

REMOTE WORK: THE NEW NORMAL Remote work was initially envisioned as a way for companies to carry on through the lockdown. Now, it looks like it’s becoming the new normal, particularly in the form of “hybrid working” where employees may switch work. Organisations that were previously sceptical about allowing remote work have now been forced to just business continuity, but higher work-life balance. Employees no longer waste hours every day commuting.

Thanks to advances in communication technology, we have reached a point where remote working can be virtually as impactful as being there in person. But for remote work to happen productively, employers need to ensure that the technologies deployed for employee use – laptops, private networks and communication

The quality of communications is critical. Studies have shown that both video and audio quality have a to learn and recall information.

Research by Forbes Insights found that 73 per cent of executives for high growth companies believe improves” the quality of communication. But even with high quality video, having high quality audio remains critical. A study in Sweden found that poor audio affected people’s perception of video.

In Australia, 84 per cent of respondents assume that people will be equipped with video devices and headsets in future, according to an Australian Public Sector survey in June 2020. Further, 80 per cent believe that devices such as headsets and video cameras allow people to be more effective in the workplace.

Employees who need to meet frequently with vendors, partners or customers will need proper teleconferencing technology to replace physical meetings, as well as training on how to replicate face-toface contact as closely as possible.

Employers should also think about their business processes to ensure business continuity. For example, are employee roles and responsibilities made clear if teams are required to be split into smaller groups, with some

LOOKING TOWARDS A DIFFERENT FUTURE Australian technology infrastructure decades. From moving to the cloud to the advent of 5G, affordable and scalable solutions are available more widely now than ever before. But how these technologies are deployed and used is all-important.

Most epidemiologists warn that COVID-19 will not be the last or even the worst pandemic. Other viruses the potential to jump species and cause worse havoc. In the years to come, the coronavirus lockdowns may be seen as the dress rehearsal for something far more severe.

We need to leverage technology to ensure we can have business continuity throughout future crises, from natural disasters to pandemics. Ultimately for businesses to operate successfully in a crisis, it all boils down to the employees and how they can be empowered through technology to work in the best way possible, from anywhere – even quarantine.

working from home?

Another issue is that some employees struggle to work from home. How can they be supported?

What extra channels or ‘virtual water coolers’ might help to create a more holistic workplace experience?

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WHAT’S NEW From drilling machines to excavators, crushing and grinding equipment – the mining industry requires a dizzying array of machinery and technology to carry out its work. These tools are constantly evolving to meet new safety requirements and output targets. Here’s a round up of what’s just hit the scene.

Words: DARREN BAGULEY

IN MACHINERY? 10

AusBiz.

MINING MACHINERY

Jayben S60 REMOTE CONTROLLED MINING SCALER Claimed by the Jayben Group as a

Image: Jayben Group

material that has built up

anywhere in the world to enable

jayben.com.au NOV/DEC 2020

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MINING MINERALS

Bis Razor UNDERGROUND GRADER IMDEX Blast Dog BLAST OPTIMISING FIELD ROBOT Industries on the podium at the

“The Bis Razor is the first all-new underground grader to come onto the market in 20 years.”

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AusBiz.

Bortana EV DUAL CAB UTE

LEFT TO RIGHT, TOP TO BOTTOM: UFR AUTOPILE, UFR AUTOLOG, BORTANA EV & BIS RAZOR

Images: Bis Industries, Universal Field Robots and Safescape.

“Bortana is based on the Agrale Marruá, a heavyduty, corrosion resistant Brazillian vehicle.”

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AUSTRALIAN

HEMP INDUSTRY ON THE RISE

One of the world’s oldest cultivated plants, industrial hemp fell afoul of concern about its cousin, marijuana; but 80 years after production was banned, it’s now legal to cultivate under licence in all Australian states and territories.

Words: DARREN BAGULEY

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AusBiz.

Image: Nick Parkinson, Afends.

AGRIBUSINESS

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AGRIBUSINESS

THE HISTORY OF HEMP in Australia is as old as European settlement; when the First Fleet arrived in 1788, it carried Cannabis sativa seeds onboard. Hemp was a strategic commodity for Great Britain. The Royal Navy was the dominant sea power and kilometres of hemp would be used to rig and caulk the timbers of a man o’ war while the ship’s sails and its crew’s clothing were made of hemp.

At the time, the Empire depended on Russian-grown hemp for its supply with its accompanying strategic and geopolitical risks. As a result, the Admiralty planned to establish large hemp crops in the new penal colony.

A hemp industry was established in Australia but in the 1920s and 1930s it ran afoul of prohibitionists concerned about marijuana. According to an industry overview published by AgriFutures Australia, “There are over 2,000 different varieties or strains of C. sativa, which are botanically alike but differ in their chemical makeup.

The C. sativa plant contains tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) which at high concentrations is a psycho-

active or mind-altering ingredient.

In 90% of C. sativa varieties, the concentration of THC in leaves and and deemed harmless.”

In his book, Chasing the Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs, author and investigative Journalist, Johann Hari, details how the head of the US Department of Prohibition, Harry Anslinger, shifted emphasis to marijuana and other narcotic drugs when he realised the end of Prohibition would make his department redundant.

At the same time, powerful business interests associated with nylon and cotton saw the opportunity to take out a competing industry by playing up the connection with marijuana as they lobbied governments. As a result, from the late 1920s onwards, cultivation of Cannabis was outlawed in the US for industrial hemp.

LEFT: HEMP BEDDING FROM HEMP CLOTHING AUSTRALIA AND HEMP CLOTHING FROM AFENDS. RIGHT: HEMP CROPS GROWING IN AUSTRALIA & A BAG OF DRIED HEMPS SEEDS.

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STRUGGLING WITH STIGMA It wasn’t until the early 2000s that Australian state governments started to make a distinction between the low-THC varieties of industrial hemp and marijuana. In November 2017, the Food Standards Code was amended to permit the sale of low THC hemp seed foods for consumption and when the Northern Territory made it possible to grow industrial hemp under licence earlier this year, it became a legal crop in every state and territory. THC is limited to below 1 per cent in New South Wales, South Australia and Queensland and 0.35 per cent in other states.

The reason growers must apply for a licence is that industrial hemp is not recognised as a farming commodity.

Instead, industrial hemp (even with the Cannabis under the ‘Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances Act 1981’.

According to James Vosper, president of the Australian Industrial Hemp Alliance, “The growing location must be approved by the State Government, i.e. no public access, not near schools et cetera, and growers need to agree to inspections and monitoring by state government inspectors.”

Although the legalisation of low THC hemp seed foods for consumption unfortunately coincided with the onset of drought in Eastern Australia, hemp cultivation is growing. In 2011, there was 185.5 hectares nationwide and in 2020 there are around 2,500 hectares under hemp, with Tasmania the leading state for hemp growing.

"The anti-marijuana movement has set the hemp industry back decades, however, some serious R & D effort is being put into the crop."

WHY GROW HEMP? Some proponents claim almost miraculous properties for hemp, however, it’s not a silver bullet according to Vosper.

Nonetheless, hemp has some outstanding qualities. It is more water

germination. It is fairly pest resistant in the Australian environment and because it grows so rapidly, it outcompetes most weeds which negates or greatly reduces the need for herbicides or cultivation.

With a large, vigorous root system, sequestration. The portion of the hemp plant known as the hurd can be used to produce hempcrete, a concrete replacing building material that

hard-wearing fabric similar to cotton.

According to Vosper, “it has been used to clean up contaminated industrial sites as its root system takes up substances such as gold, lead, cadmium and nickel from the soil. The Russians used hemp to decontaminate around Chernobyl in the 1990s.”

Hemp can be grown anywhere lucerne grows well, says Vosper.

Although primarily grown in the summer months, in some parts of Australia it is possible to harvest two crops per year. Harvesting of hemp for is shed but before the seed sets, which Harvesting for seed would occur four when 60 to 70 per cent of the seed has ripened. Watching for signs that birds are stripping the seeds off the plant is a good way to tell that seeds are ready for harvest. Hemp is sown by a conventional disc drill and harvested by good quality sickle-bar mowers and hay swathers.

FUTURE OF HEMP IN AUSTRALIA

FAST FACTS

The anti-marijuana movement has set the hemp industry back decades and it is still regarded as an emerging industry, however, some serious R & D effort is starting to be put into the crop.

The Australian Industrial Hemp Alliance has received funding from AgriFutures Australia to conduct trials across the country, but especially in Northern Australia, to determine what strains of C. Sativa grow best and where.

Although hemp grows best in subtropical and tropical climates in

• Industrial hemp is grown from Cannabis Sativa, fast growing herbaceous plants with a minimal concentration of the mind-altering substance tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) • Industrial hemp is grown for seeds or fibre, usually not both • There is a wide range of uses for industrial hemp’s fibre and seeds ranging from textiles and cosmetics, to building materials, biofuels and food.

a moderately humid atmosphere, Tasmania is currently the major hemp growing state as it sourced cool climate varieties from Canada which legalised hemp growing in 1998.

In 1941 Henry Ford built a Model T which had a body incorporating bioplastic made from hemp and it ran on fuel derived from hemp seeds.

As we face a warming world choked with non-biodegradable plastics while

of the 10,000-year-old C. Sativa.

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COVER STORY

COVID OF THE BEE WORLD Words: Ian Neubauer

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AusBiz.

AS HARD AS COVID-19 is on humanity, take a moment to think about the European honey bee and the Varroa mite – also know as Varroa destructor – a parasitic mite that

“When they say 'destructor' they really mean it,” says Daniel Webb, a

apprenticeship in New Zealand a

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KOMBUCHA

COVER STORY

"In Australia, 65 per cent of horticultural and agricultural crops grown in Australia require honey bees for pollination."

Images: CSIRO

“In commercial terms,” he continues, “the contagion tripled the number of inspections beekeepers needed to do each year to keep hives healthy, which honey in New Zealand because honey cannot be imported to the country.”

With the exception of four islands of Hawaii and southeastern Libya, Australia is the only beekeeping country in the world free of the Varroa mite. Not that the destructor hasn't tried to reach our bees.

“In 2018, we intercepted a swarm of honey bees carrying Varroa off the Port of Melbourne that had built a hive inside a container on a ship that originated from the US,” says Dr John Roberts, the research scientist leading bee pathology research at the CSIRO. “In that instance, the swarm was

detected before it left the ship and before the ship reached port.”

But next time, Roberts says, Australia's biosecurity experts might not be so lucky. “I don't have a crystal

But it's not just the price of honey that's affected. While collecting nectar – the substance they use

community for a long time has been that Varroa is now found everywhere else in the world and it is just a matter of time before it makes landfall in Australia.”

By carrying out this vital task known as pollinating, bees facilitate the production of one-third to threequarters of all food on the planet.

In Australia, 65 per cent of horticultural and agricultural crops grown in Australia require honey bees for pollination, according to information provided at a 2014 Senate inquiry into the Future of Beekeeping.

But unlike many other developed countries that use managed honey bees to pollinate crops, most of our horticultural and agricultural industries rely on unmanaged feral honey to

FOOD SECURITY

North America has been especially hard hit by the Varroa mite. Parts of the US have reported annual colony losses of up to 30 per cent, with many American beekeepers now reliant on Varroa-free queen bees imported from Australia.

honey bees spread pollen or

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COVER STORY

pollinate crops – making us particularly vulnerable to sudden declines in feral honey bee populations.

“I think that's the biggest point to get across,” says Webb. “If and when Varroa arrives in Australia, beekeepers can manage Varroa in their hives with more frequent inspections. But if it decimates feral bee populations, we will be completely reliant on farmed bees to pollinate our crops.”

It's a view shared by CSIRO Pollination Researcher Dr Saul Cunningham: “Our managed bee pollination services would be hardpressed to meet the extra demand required to replace the key role feral bees play. So the outcome would likely be a drop in crop production and a rise in prices of popular food staples like fruit and veggies.”

And Varroa is not the only mite threatening honey bees in Australia and their massive contribution to our food security. “Another serious risk for us that I am working on now,” says Dr Roberts, “is the Tropilaelaps mite.

It's an external mite, like the Varroa,

native to the giant honey bees of Asia but even more damaging. It isn't a global threat yet but it recently spread to Papua New Guinea, right on our northern doorstep.”

PLAN B

So how did the Varroa mite penetrate New Zealand, which, like Australia, is one of the most biosecure countries on Earth?

“With any security system, there are always unpredictable things that can happen,” says Dr Roberts. for the worst with a good plan.” surveillance at ports and other locations considered the most likely entry point of the Varroa mite in Australia, the CSIRO has devised a high tech early-warning system that looks out for changes in the normally predictable behaviour of bees.

The solution comprises microsensors, each measuring 2.5mm x 2.5mm, that scientists in Hobart are

backs of the bees. The bees are then released into the wild, where the micro-sensors work like vehicle e-tag systems to send data to receivers placed strategically around beehives to identify individual bees' movements.

By modelling bee movement, scientists can help identify outbreaks and isolate them from the larger bee population. To date, more than one million bees have been tagged – the of insects have been monitored.

“We call them bees with backpacks,” says Paulo de Souza, an expert in micro-sensors at the CSIRO leading the study. “But this is not about bees or microchips or technology. This is about the future of our planet.”

DID YOU KNOW? • Bees can recognise individual humans the same way we do, by cobbling together lips, ears and other organs to make out a whole face

Images: CSIRO

• Some bees are thrillseekers. Others are more timid. A US study even found that agitated honeybees can be pessimistic, and may have feelings

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SPECIAL FEATURE

HOW GOVERNMENT CAN BEST SUPPORT SMEs DURING THE PANDEMIC AND BEYOND 24

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Image: XXXXXXXXXXX

Small businesses struggle at the best of times so it’s no secret that over a third of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Australia are feeling pessimistic about how they’ll survive the next three months.

Words: Libby-Jane Charleston

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SPECIAL FEATURE

THE AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS’ latest survey of COVID-19 business impacts shows 35 per cent of small businesses

just 18 per cent of large companies).

Dr Andrei Lux and Dr Flavio Macau from Edith Cowan University researched 223 business owners.

SME is struggling, it is not only due to an individual entrepreneurs’ personal resources and capabilities; the local business environment also plays a major role.

Dr Lux and Dr Macau believe governments need to focus on.

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AusBiz.

1. SMES NEED GOOD ADVICE “Our research shows that access to professional advice, including tax, difference to small business outcomes.

During an economic downturn, spending on these services can be when they’re needed most, as business owners face tough decisions, such as whether to borrow to keep their says Dr Lux, lecturer in Leadership and Organisational Behaviour.

“Governments will need to ensure that professional services are available and accessible to small businesses on According to Dr Macau, senior lecturer in Supply Chain Management and Global Logistics, sometimes the advice is there and small businesses don't know about it or how to access it.

“Business owners may know about

the advice and think it is too complicated, off-limits or rigged.

Governments could step up and teach business owners even more on how to take the most value from the services Macau. “It can be frustrating but like Sisyphus, it is governments' job to roll

2. PROMOTE MENTAL HEALTH The pandemic has already put the spotlight on mental health around the world, as many are struggling to Research by Dr Macau and Dr Lux shows that business owners’ mental health resources have a direct effect “The mental strain of the pandemic, lockdown, and subsequent economic downturn, is making things even harder for small business owners. That’s why it is particularly important for

"Local government support groups could help business owners facing what is possibly the greatest professional challenge of their lives."

governments to support small business owners’ mental health as part of their “There is much talk on how the pandemic affects our mental health but not that much on how we can persevere and heal. Local government support groups could help business owners facing what possibly is the greatest professional challenge of

3. GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT Dr Lux and Dr Macau maintain small businesses should be given a real advantage in procurement and that all policies and processes are clear, protective and accessible to the “small ensure that access to this help is not the large corporations.

Ombudsman, Kate Carnell, has

proposed that federal government contracts worth up to A$10 million go through a small business panel as part of the tender process. Dr Lux and Dr Macau agree with Ms Carnell’s statement that “lowest cost is not

4. ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO BUY LOCAL Buying local is more important than ever before. Dr Lux says the reason is explained by the 'velocity of money'.

“Let’s say you get paid $10, and you use that $10 to buy dinner from a local take-out, that pays the chef's wages, who then uses that $10 to take an uber home, the uber driver pays that $10 to a babysitter, who then uses it to buy groceries. That $10 has produced $50 worth of economic value for your However, Dr Lux claims there are two big problems with this: “You buy from a company based overseas—the same

process happens, but over there, and that $10 (and the subsequent $50) have left our community. Also, if you buy from a big business, even one that's Australian owned, some of that process still happens because those goods/services are provided by Australian workers, but wealthy business owners tend to just add the taking that money out of the economy.

That's why it's so important to spend at local businesses in a recession, so that According to Dr Macau, buying local is best for everyone.

“The best-case scenario is when you buy local because it is the best offer, reliability and speed. Where possible, local must be stimulated to excel globally, expanding to not only ensure that the money stays local but also that it is attracted from the outside to the community," says Dr Macau.

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Plant

POWER words: BETHANY PLINT

INDUSTRY PLANT POWER

IMAGINE, IT’S 2024. Every restaurant in your town has a dedicated vegan menu with more than just a garden salad and mushroom risotto on offer. Beyond Meat is reasonably priced. Non-dairy milks now come in 2L bottles rather than tiny, two-cuppa Tetra Paks.

Cadbury has recreated their entire range with almond milk. Life is good. but it’s one that will likely resonate with the 2.5 million Australians whose diet consists almost solely of vegetarian food (according to a recent study by market research company, Roy Morgan).

It may also pique the interest of the approximately 10 million Australians who have reported they are consuming less red meat on a regular basis.

‘Plant-based’ is no longer a buzz term. It’s just the most recent iteration of a lifestyle choice that has been reshaped and repositioned for marketing purpose time and time again. Those who have adopted the plant-based lifestyle – whether in part or in full – now enjoy a far less abrasive reaction when discussing their dietary choices with meat eaters. People were once met with concern from meateaters if they admitted to not eating a hunk of beef everyday, but discussions around plant-based eating are much more open today. Or, perhaps, the notion has been around long enough that people simply don’t care anymore.

There are plenty of other divisive topics to discuss these days.

The proliferation of widely recognised research supporting the

Image: Fable Food Co

has helped society reach a general consensus – “it’s not for everyone but movement still faces strong resistance from Australia’s farming industry.

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INDUSTRY PLANT POWER

Farming has and always will be an integral part of the Australian economy, as well as our wider culture. In fact, we dedicate 58 per cent of our land to it.

With a $65 billion valuation across production – and more than 50 per cent of this being tied to animal agriculture (Snapshot of Australian Agriculture 2020, ABARES) – it’s unsurprising that those with vested interests are concerned about meat alternatives disrupting the industry.

However, the aim of many of these companies is not to put farmers out of business, but rather to offer an alternative that allows consumers to diversify their diet with different plant-based protein options.

When posed with the notion of going plant-based, most consumers turn their nose up at the idea of dry chickpea patties, kale-infused sausages and other bland products dressed up as their carnivorous favourites. But the meat-alternative market is becoming increasingly plump with established food producers and start-ups creating products that are convincing enough to make even the most die-hard meat eaters do a double take.

THIS PAGE: UPTON'S NATURALS JACKFRUIT OPPOSITE: FABLE PLANT-BASED MEAT

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AusBiz.

BUT IT DOESN’T TASTE AS GOOD…

Fable is considered the gold standard of meat alternatives in Australia.

Headquartered on the Sunshine Coast with a development kitchen in Melbourne, the three brains behind the taste of meat. “One of life’s greatest pleasures is biting into a juicy burger or getting elbow deep in a they concede on their website. "But the challenge is, there are some major issues with how we produce and primarily to the huge environmental impact of excessive meat consumption in Australia. The CSIRO found that greenhouse emissions from Australian diets are 200 per cent higher than those of a typical high-income country, placing the blame on meat-heavy diets.

Fable’s answer to this issue is by basing their products around the humble shiitake mushroom. Needing only a few other ingredients – coconut mushrooms have the same natural so appealing which means processing is kept to a minimum.

BUT IT’S EXPENSIVE…

One of the main hurdles when it comes to uptake is cost versus demand – the more consumers who want the product, the more companies who are willing to produce it. More competition in the market means lower prices for the consumer and, thus, a higher uptake by individuals whose main barrier to entry is cost.

One Australian plant-based meat startup is about to blow that cost barrier out of the water. v2food, the creators of Hungry Jacks’ Rebel Whopper, have picked up contracts with Marley Spoon and Dinnerly since striking their deal with the fast food giant in 2019. Their most recent win – signing a deal with

Woolworths to carry their products in over 600 stores around the country – is a big step forward in their mission to make plant-based meat a regular item on Aussie dinner tables. Understanding that there will not be mass acceptance of meat alternatives until value is comparable to their animal equivalent, v2food has launched their products with a retail price of $8.50 for 500g of mince, on par with Woolworths’ own lean beef mince.

The founder and CEO of v2food, Nick Hazell, cites population growth and the subsequent increasing demand for protein sources as the driving force of “some of the greatest health, food security and sustainability challenges but people’s habits are only going to change if they have alternatives that taste just as good as the real thing, at a fair price and which can be easily This is where v2food aims to outshine its competition.

BUT I DON’T HAVE TIME TO COOK...

The sheer abundance of plant-based meal delivery kits from names like HelloFresh, Purple Carrot and Pepper Leaf are a nod to the increasing demand for high-quality, tasty meals that don’t require any animal products.

The issue for many is that they don’t have the estimated 30 minutes to an hour required to produce most of these recipes. That’s where ready-toeat meals and pre-seasoned meat alternatives are rising up in a big way.

Upton’s Naturals, for example, has just entered the Australian market to address the demand for easy-toprepare, wholefood meat alternatives.

Their hero product, Uptons’ Naturals Jackfruit, is positioned as a substitute for recipes that call for pulled pork, pre-seasoned, heat-and-serve pouches

and Chilli Lime to Bar-B-Que, Sriracha and Sweet and Smoky.

When you consider the resources required to produce one kilogram of beef, for example, the output for crops such as rice, grains, beans, fruit and vegetables is substantially higher – a study conducted by the Livestock, Environment and Development Initiative (LEAD) found that one kilogram of beef requires twenty times more water than plant-based protein such as chickpeas.

Counter arguments against the agriculture industry shifting to plantbased alternatives vary from the sheer volume of plants needed to meet caloric requirements to the fact that a large portion of land that is currently used for grazing is not suitable for growing suitable crops. If the demand for plantbased alternatives continues to grow exponentially as predicted, Australian farmers are posed with an opportunity, though some might see it as an ultimatum: embrace plant power or lose out to overseas producers who are already ahead of the curve.

"The meat-alternative market is becoming plump with products that are convincing enough to make die-hard meat eaters do a double take."

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