South Perth, Western Australia
May 11, 2007
The Department of
Agriculture and Food is to assist Western Australian seed
potato exporters with a trial shipment of seed potatoes to help
boost market interest in Thailand.
The Department’s Manager of Trade and Market Development Andrea
Berteit said Thailand’s Frito Lay, a subsidiary of PepsiCo
International, has been investigating supply possibilities in
Western Australia.
“Their Director of Supply Chain Dr Songyos has been in WA
looking at the feasibility of an Atlantic seed potato supply for
their Thailand operation,” Ms Berteit said.
“Seed exporters have responded by agreeing at a forum in
Manjimup this month to work on a more united front to meet the
growing export market demands, and to service larger customers
such as Frito Lay.
“It is hoped the sample shipment will help to substantially
increase Western Australian exports of seed potatoes over the
next few years.”
PepsiCo International is a world leader in convenient foods and
beverages with world total annual revenues of more than US$35
billion and 168,000 employees. The FritoLay segment of the
business is a world leader in salty snack food. It has over 70
factories in more than 30 countries.
Dr Songyos was accompanied on his Western Australian visit by
the PepsiCo International Agronomy Manager Peter Philp. Mr Philp
is responsible for sourcing crisping potatoes for The Smith
Factories in South and Western Australia
Following talks with the Department of Agriculture and Food,
they visited a number of growers and packers in the South West.
“Frito Lay Thailand requires significant amounts of Atlantic
potatoes per year for its crisping factory in Lamphun producing
the FritoLay brand potato chips, marketed in Australia under the
Smiths brand,” she said.
Ms Berteit said Frito Lay Thailand currently sourced almost all
its Australian seed from Victoria.
“However, the company is looking for alternative Australian
suppliers because of the increased weather variability in the
Eastern States” she said.
“This presents an opportunity for Western Australia, where the
water availability in seed growing areas is less limiting, and
where superior quality seed can be produced.”
Ms Berteit said Western Australia currently produced only about
2,000 tonnes of Atlantic seed a year, involving about 20
growers.
“Only about 1,000 tonnes would be available for exports in
Western Australia currently. However, there is a good
opportunity to improve efficiency at the farm level through
increased scale, and in better handling, grading, packing and
cool storage,” she said.
“Western Australian industry can capitalise on the growing
export opportunities and offer competitive prices. We can also
take full advantage of our freedom from major potato diseases,
and use this as a selling point to international markets.”
To further assist industry, the Department’s potato project is
currently developing a planning model using the Seed Potato
Certification and Registration scheme and geographic information
resources. The model allows for the identification of suitable
land to evaluate future planning options to bulk up seed
production for large international customers. |
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