Sustaining Australia: Food and Grocery Manufacturing 2030

Sustaining Australia: Food and Grocery Manufacturing 2030 provides in-depth analysis of the Australian food and grocery manufacturing sector and outlines the investment and policy decisions needed to ensure it has a strong future in both domestic and international markets. This report, produced by the Australian Food and Grocery Council with economic analysis conducted by leading economist Warren Hogan of EQ Economics, identifies major opportunities and vulnerabilities for the sector. The report finds that:

  • Australia’s food and grocery manufacturing sector is under pressure from declining profitability due to a highly concentrated retail marketplace, resulting in a decade of stagnant capital investment and low innovation
  • food and grocery manufacturing risks losing ground to imports unless steps are taken to boost investment in new technology
  • non-food grocery, which includes vitamins and household products, should be included as a manufacturing priority alongside food and beverage under the federal government’s Modern Manufacturing Strategy
  • the right policies and incentives can double the size of Australia’s food and grocery sector to $250 billion by 2030, with a resulting 54 per cent increase in employment to 427,000 people

The alternatives to adapting and investing are a “muddle through” business as usual case in which food and grocery manufacturing continues to underperform the broader Australian economy or, at worst, a progressive decline with increased offshoring of production, job losses and increased import penetration. This report includes important recommendations for policymakers covering long-term industry strategy, investment incentives, workforce skills, regulatory reform, digital labelling, retailer-supplier relationships and export growth strategy. Download report