It’s an exciting time for the agribusiness, food & beverage industry in Australia. With policy, trade agreements and investment to support growth, businesses are being provided with more opportunities to take the ‘Australian Made’ label to new markets. 

While it is exciting, we continue to navigate supply chain disruptions, labour shortages, extreme weather conditions (as well as rising interest rates and inflation), causing prices across product segments to rise. Across manufacturing, farming and retail, businesses are now grappling with the question of whether to diversify their operations, pass costs onto consumers, or consider another method to remain competitive.

Innovating, creating operational efficiencies and leveraging incentives will be key to remaining competitive. 

Top trends in Agribusiness, Food & Beverage

  • Driving sustainable growth in value-add agriculture
  • Responsiveness to consumer trends as a core differentiator
  • Adopting new technology for more agile practices
  • Driving sustainable growth in value-add agriculture
    Driving sustainable growth in value-add agriculture
    The Government’s $15b National Reconstruction Fund will support stable employment, sector prosperity, and drive growth in agriculture.
  • Responsiveness to consumer trends as a core differentiator
    Responsiveness to consumer trends as a core differentiator
    Consumers increasingly demand variety and alternatives. It’s crucial you have systems in place to track demand fluctuations in all parts of your distribution networks.
  • Adopting new technology for more agile practices
    Adopting new technology for more agile practices
    From finding efficiency, improving profitability, to supporting sustainability – those leveraging tech and data can make more timely, informed decisions.

Issues impacting businesses in Agribusiness, Food & Beverage

An attractive sector for investors

The Agribusiness, Food & Beverage industry has seen a consistent level of deal activity despite significant headwinds which have impacted the sector and the broader economy. Through our analysis of 1,466 global transactions for the Ag, F&B sector in the 18-month period to December 2022, transaction multiples have remained strong – a pleasing result for businesses undertaking divestment activity. Yet while businesses focused on food manufacturing, food waste minimisation, technology and sustainability are booming, acquisition trends are declining due to increased costs primarily linked to supply chain and inflationary pressures. Read more about M&A and equity markets in our report.

We cut through the complexity of compliance

Why is the Australian agribusiness, food & beverage sector so well respected? It’s because we have stringent requirements around quality and safety – that bar continues to rise as your business grows. Director duties are becoming more complex to cover issues like ESG, sustainability and cyber security. Export provides an additional level of compliance based on the unique requirements for each jurisdiction you operate in. Whether it’s tax, audit or risk, we cut through the compliance and complexity.

Technology as an enabler of change

It’s no surprise that tech advancements and innovation now dominate most sectors. Processes have been enhanced by the introduction of new technologies, enabling a positive change to business and operational efficiencies. These range across streamlining farming practices, using automation and artificial intelligence to drive production and improve harvest results, through to reducing reliance on manual labour and increasing the sustainability of agriculture. This era of digital transformation also means disruption for organisations unable to keep up with the fast pace of change, which can quickly be left behind. 

Process optimisation and supply chain resilience supported by funding

With the recent floods, the continuing war in Ukraine and ongoing COVID-19 impacts, disruption is putting pressure on manufacturing and agricultural supplies. With disturbance to production in some countries, global demand for Australian produce has risen due to its perception as a reliable and quality product supplier. Based on Australia’s scale and capabilities, we can leverage current market conditions as an opportunity to improve processes, build strong trade relationships and develop resilient supply chains. The $15b National Reconstruction Fund will be instrumental to support these aspirations and build sustainable economic growth, with $500m allocated towards value-adding across agriculture, forestry, fisheries, food and fibre.

Targeting existing and new export markets

There’s rising demand for premium ‘Australian Made’ products around the world. With growing populations, rising incomes and urbanisation changing consumer preferences, this is a prime opportunity for the Australian agriculture, fisheries and forestry sectors – particularly to export into the Asian market. Beyond producing high value, high quality products, to support your growth trajectory, you’ll need to consider both State and Federal support grant opportunities such as EMDG, customs and trade efficacies, tax planning and transfer pricing. 

R&D and commercialising the next great idea

Australia has a long history of innovation in the agribusiness, food & beverage space, ranging from investing in 'better for you' foods and alternatives, to the market using technology across agricultural processes, disease outbreaks or managing waste. However, we know going from concept to commercialisation can be a tricky process. The support and incentives are there, and our experts in innovation incentives understand the nuances to make the system work for you.

ESG transparency high on the agenda

Stakeholders, including investors, customers, and employees are demanding the adoption of environmental, social and governance (ESG) and sustainability practice. With energy prices rising, there’s a push for sustainable agriculture policy, seeking alternative sources of energy, and the adoption of automation to reduce the impacts of energy intensive processes (including storage, irrigation and refrigeration). Alongside this, transparency will be key to demonstrate steps taken and impacts both on the business and communities. While we await ESG disclosure rules from the Government, organisations are encouraged to centre ESG reporting around targets, disclosure of business activities, performance against sustainable finance, and social impact benchmarks.

Our Agribusiness, Food & Beverage services

Audit

Our expert audit approach will help you look beyond compliance – helping you builds transparency, identify risks, improve strategies and internal processes.

Finance and funding

Whether you’re considering investment or need access to finance, we can present your case to potential funders and negotiate a long-term sustainable relationship.

Tax

We work with clients at all stages of their business lifecycle – and through all their organisation’s major events – to navigate tax obligations.

Consulting

Spanning across strategy, technology, financial and risk management, our team supports you with hands-on, proactive advice on all aspects of sustainable growth.

Restructuring & turnaround

We work closely with key stakeholders – including owners, managers and lenders – to quickly identify and resolve issues affecting profitability, protect enterprise value and recover value.

Forensics

Spanning across dispute advisory, investigations, AML/CTF compliance – our experts can help you navigate the complexities you’ll encounter on your journey.

Get in touch
Partner and National Head of Agribusiness, Food & Beverage
Cameron Bacon
Cameron Bacon
Partner and National Head of Agribusiness, Food & Beverage
Cameron Bacon

Creating business opportunities through grant program

Client challenge
Client challenge
Client challenge
Interpack is an Australian family-owned company that manufactures a diverse range of customised, quality metal closures for beverage packaging solutions. When COVID-19 disrupted international supply chains across many sectors, it highlighted significant weaknesses within Australia’s domestic manufacturing capability. Until recently, supply of some essential items for Australian food production, such as glass jar closures (twist-off lug caps), were produced overseas with no domestic supplier. Interpack saw an opportunity, identifying they had transferable manufacturing capabilities and knowledge to innovate and manufacture these crucial food closure products to service the Australian market.
The solution
The solution
The solution
Interpack engaged Grant Thornton to help prepare a submission under the Federal Government’s Manufacturing Modernisation Fund (MMF) – a fund that would support them to meet this new goal. Lead Partner Jacky Millership and the team leveraged their extensive experience to demonstrate how Interpack’s project aligned with the objectives of the MMF program, ensuring the proposal rated highly across all merit criteria assessments in a highly competitive process.
The outcome
The outcome
The outcome
Interpack’s MMF application was successful, one of only 86 successful projects. With the Government support, Interpack has become the only domestic manufacturer of these lids, using the latest automation technology to ensure global cost competitiveness of its products. This project enables Interpack to become a reliable twist-off lug cap provider, supporting national food security with Australian businesses no longer purely reliant on offshore suppliers.
Find out more

Opportunities to grow

Client challenge
Client challenge
Client challenge
In 2015, a major South African food company looked to Australia, and Grant Thornton, to continue to expand its business internationally. The entrance into the Australian market was boosted by a deep relationship with a leading retailer. After finding a footprint in the Australian market, it was soon realised that the company’s growth in Australia was dependent on this one customer and limited local networks. The Australian operations were not only losing money but its future was substantially controlled by another organisation’s growth plans.
The solution
The solution
The solution
Leveraging Grant Thornton’s relationships in South Africa, we were able to support our client through the entire process - from initial entry into the Australian market through to scoping expansion plans and advising on the acquisition of new businesses. We provided our client with introductions to their Australian business partner, local banks, a locally-based legal adviser, as well as advice on tax structuring for the Australian business and its owners. We also were able to lead advice on two critical acquisitions — a large agricultural business and a food processing facility.
The outcome
The outcome
The outcome
The recent acquisitions have given our client a significant footprint on Australia’s east coast and made them sustainable in their own right. Freed from dependence on its major customer, the company is now expanding its customer base, while still leveraging the opportunities provided by its largest buyer. Building on the strong platform laid with the company’s recent acquisitions, Grant Thornton is now advising on the identification of future factory sites and acquisition targets.
Find out more

Subscribe to receive our publications

Subscribe now to be kept up-to-date with timely and relevant insights, unique to the nature of your business, your areas of interest and the industry in which you operate.