News Freight flights, Exporters Luncheon with Cathay, processing plans, OBE rail line and meetings in Hong Kong

Does anyone know what WTB-HKG means?

Well it means Wellcamp to Hong Kong in airline code language but what it really means is jobs and opportunity for local businesses.

Food Leaders Australia was fortunate enough to host a luncheon for exporters and potential exporters with Cathay Pacific’s Nigel Chynoweth. Cathay are keen to bring the community along with them on the journey that is building a freight route.   There are a few key takeaways from the lunch:

-        The Wellcamp freight service to Hong Kong is the only dedicated freight service operating out of Southern Queensland with a consistent service that suits programmable or regular freight customers.  

-        Cathay have a fantastic capability for hopping or transferring freight from the Wellcamp –Hong Kong service onto connecting flights into China, North Asia, the Middle East, Europe and North America. 

-        This connection capability is underpinned by a state of the art cargo terminal on the side of the Hong Kong runway which includes cold chain storage of 1600 square metres. 

-        Cathay are excited by the prospect of adding Australia’s premium food production region to their destination list and believe it will not be long before additional services are added. 

What does this mean?

The Cathay flight (CX022) on took off around 9:55pm before landing in Hong Kong at approximately 0400 Hong Kong time. This is the perfect time for that produce to make its way to Hong Kong cafés for breakfast. 

Did you know that one full 747-8 pay load of Australian premium beef similar to the cut we used at the Aussie BBQ in Shanghai would equate to approximately AUD$6.85 million dollars of product (at wholesale prices)? And that for every 747 service put into commission can translate to approximately 1052 jobs nationally?

If you are an existing or potential exporter to anywhere but particularly Asia you should contact us at Food Leaders Australia on how to take advantage of this logistical titan – at Food Leaders Australia we have a full time resource in Asia  - Shanghai to be exact and partnership offices in Beijing and now an official relationship with the Hangzhou Chamber of Commerce. We are in constant contact with the likes of Alibaba, Chunbo, JD.com, Bright Foods, Top Ideal, Austrade, Trade Invest Queensland (TIQ) and AustCham Shanghai. An example of our work in Asia is laid out below in the WDEO project.

Planes, Trains and…Does anyone know what Quilpie to Oakey means?

It was back to the future at Oakey Beef last Wednesday as the community celebrated the return of live cattle on trains from Western Queensland. Whilst not the inaugural shipment  from Quilpie the event did signify that the move back to train from road transport is a real and much needed movement.  All protagonists involved in this project are to be congratulated  and especially Mr Pat Gleeson, GM at Oakey Beef Exports.  This is a win for taxpayers as it takes trucks off roads and uses a latent asset that saw the delivery of nearly 900 cattle fat from a fantastic winter season in Western Queensland. It’s a win for producers in the west and for processors and jobs at Oakey Beef where they are investing $60 million in expansion plans at the plant. 

Western Down Eastern Opportunities

The commencement of this service coincided with another stage of progress with the WDEO project.

The WDEO program is supported by QGC as part of its commitment to the development of sustainable regional economies and support for the agribusiness industry.

What has truly been fantastic is observing the metamorphism of family farming enterprises into cold and calculating exporters – I mean cold and calculating because the programme has pulled no punches in reinforcing what it takes personally and business-wise to succeed in exporting. 

One of our new bronze members Ruth Wetmore from Montreux Blue Consultants was in town recently catching up with some participants and she commented on how much progress all have made on this arduous journey.  Ruth comes from a branding background and it is interesting to look at how we as a region and Australian primary producers are going to protect and leverage the current strength of brand Australia into Asian consumers. 

Coming from an Australian branding background I can see the upside but recent experiences of True Aussie (used by MLA) and the attempts by Andrew Forrest and his ASA100 initiative highlight some hurdles in adoption. Even Australian made has some issues in this space - what message does a kangaroo on a box of prime Aussie beef send?

Three of the WDEO participants who joined us on AccessChina’16 will have their stories highlighted over the coming weeks. Donohoe Cattle Company’s Kirillee Donohoe’s experience in Shanghai has already shown the huge learning curve needed to tackle Asian export markets.

Dairy Renaissance

This month also saw the fantastic news of the approval for a dairy processing plant at Wellcamp Industrial Park. Project Principal Steve Laracy from Larpro  - a delegate on Access China ’16 – was recently in Toowoomba at the Exporter’s Club luncheon. The demand for dairy in Asia remains an upward trend and the addition of this capability will mean more growth for our region for years to come. Dairy in Queensland has had a tough time over the past decade since deregulation.

Beef, Grain, and Sheep Central

Management and staff from Beef Central and their off shoots Grain & Beef Central recently held a one day meeting at TSBE and Food Leaders offices – great to catch up with Access China 16 correspondent and Beef industry stalwart Jon Condon in town for the day. Beef Central were early supporters of our Shanghai adventure and wrote up very humbling piece during the week.

Hong Kong Connections

Food Leaders Australia’s GM China Liu Wen was recently in Hong Kong where she met with Deputy Premier and Minister for Trade and Investment Jacky Trad. The Deputy Premier celebrated the arrival of the Cathay freighter and toured Cathay’s cargo facility in Hong Kong.

Stay tuned for …

400M mean anything to you?  Upcoming project announcements in the Ag Tech, investment and export development space. #excited42017!!!

PS  - look out for ABC Landline’s first episode in 2017. It will be a 90 minute special on China and will feature a few familiar faces and great stories.