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Sydney, Australia (pte023/24.06.2005/14:44) - An expert from Rabobank http://www.rabobank.com.au, an international corporate & investment bank, whose focus is food an agribusiness, has warned the Australian wine industry that it needs to expand its exports to other markets, or risk further price drops.
Although exports are on the rise, the value of wine is declining, now averaging Aus$4.19 (eur 2.70).
"A lot of the wine producing countries are getting much smarter, and are actually now targeting specific markets that they want to sell to," Neil Burgess from Rabobank said, indicating that the wine industry now needs to target markets such as Canada, Germany and Russia.
Australia's wine production has peaked at 1.3 million litres, with the United Kingdom being Australia's biggest customer.
Burgess added: "And the industry as a whole has to realise that it can no longer rest on its laurels of past successes. The industry has become very dynamic and we have to be far more innovative to actually retain our competitive edge. If we don't, we're certainly going to be left behind."
Austrade believes that Thailand should be the target for the country's top food and beverage exporters.
Senior trade commissioner to Thailand, Sean Riley, says that market experts from Thailand, Indonesia, India, New Zealand and the Pacific are adamant about making deals with Australia.
"For a lot of these products you might be talking about the 20 million Thais who are middle-income earners who have the buying capacity to buy the chocolate chip cookies or the wine or the olive oil that Australia produces," Riley said.
"You're also talking about the 10 million tourists that come every year, so you're talking about selling Aussie product into resorts in Phuket and Chang Mai, Bali, or around the Pacific where tourists go and spend."
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