Asia presents opportunities for Australian whole grains

Demand for healthy whole grain products in Asia is presenting opportunities for the Australian grain industry.

Market opportunities: Whole grain consumption in Asia is currently small, but health awareness is growing rapidly, with countries turning to whole grain foods.

THE Asian whole grain market is growing, and Australian producers are in an ideal place to capitalise on it, according to Australian Export Grains Innovation Centre.

The group held a virtual seminar with about 40 representatives from the Chinese flour and food industries wanting to learn about the benefits of using Australian wheat flour for whole grain foods.

Participants were given an overview of the health benefits of whole grain flour and the advantages of Australian white wheat.

AEGIC general manager research and technical services Ken Quail said whole grain consumption in Asia was currently small, but health awareness was growing rapidly, with countries turning to whole grain foods.

“Pre-coronavirus, increasing wealth and increasing health awareness in Asia was growing – as they have same issues as us here in Australia with diabetes and obesity,” Dr Quail said.

“Governments are taking action to improve this.”

Other advantages of Australian white wheat, Dr Quail said, was its flavour, colour and cleanliness with previous AEGIC research indicating Australian white wheat was best for whole grain bread in appearance and flavour when compared with competitor red wheat from North America and the Black Sea.

Dr Quail said incorporating Australian whole grain wheat into Asian products was a “great opportunity” for Asian processors and Australian growers.

“Over the next decade, we expect increased consumption of whole grain products across all Asian markets,” he said.

“By 2030, whole grain products could be 10 per cent of the bread market in Asia, a potential one million tonne market worth $360 million in total.”

According to Dr Quail, Australia was the world’s only major exporter of white wheat.

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