Key companies in financial services sector back a $10m food supply chain initiative

Recent series of shocks to agrifood supply chains during the COVID-19 pandemic have been a “wake-up call” for the sector.

“The agrifood industry has been in low gear when it comes to digital transformation. Now is the time to accelerate.”

Some of the nation’s top food brands have joined with key companies in the financial services sector to back a $10m food supply chain initiative, to be announced on Tuesday, to help the agribusiness industry reinvent its business models for the post COVID-19 world.

The likes of Coles, Kellogg’s, Mars, JBS, NAB and IAG are backing the new venture to be known as Mission Food for Life, which is being spearheaded by the federal government’s Food Agility Co-operative Research Centre (CRC) established three years ago to help primary producers with innovation and technology.

Food Agility chief executive Mike Briers said the recent series of shocks to agrifood supply chains during the COVID-19 pandemic had been a “wake-up call” for the sector.

“The last six months alone have brought drought, fire, pandemic and geopolitical barriers,” Dr Briers said. “Supply chains have been pulled and strained in ways we have never experienced before. Compounding shocks are creating a future where the ability to rebound, reinvent and be resilient are the keys to prosperity.

“Those with the capacity to respond quickly via digital solutions and build new data-driven business models have the upper hand.

“The agrifood industry has been in low gear when it comes to digital transformation. Now is the time to accelerate.”

The new supply chain initiative will be informed by research to be released on Tuesday, conducted by KPMG Australia and commissioned by the Food Agility CRC, that found food supply chains would require a fundamental shift in mindset in order to survive and thrive in the aftermath of COVID-19.

In what it expected would become the “new normal” operating environment, supply chains needed to collaborate to develop and implement new tools and technologies to allow for real-time, predictive decision-making to mitigate the risks which arise in future shock scenarios.

“The agrifood sector’s ability to respond to the next significant shock will be defined by its use of post-disruptive learnings in the development of sustainable supply chains underpinned by digital and data,’’ the report says.

It said moving to paperless systems, particularly in transport and distribution, would be essential in driving efficiencies and preparing supply chains for future shock events like COVID-19 where access to physical assets was limited.

The report also said the creation of proper data standards and governance frameworks in the industry would help improve trust and promote a culture of collaboration where data sharing was encouraged.

Other firms involved in the Mission Food for Life initiative include Mulgowie, Brand Tasmania, Southern Rock Lobster, Gippsland Food and Fibre, The Yield, Lumachain and Source Certain.