Strengthening export opportunities in our regions
Business delegates from Japan recently returned to Kangaroo Island and the Fleurieu Peninsula to visit export partners and explore potential trade opportunities.
During the second week of September, 2022, RDA Adelaide Metro and Adelaide Hills, Fleurieu and Kangaroo Island, in conjunction with Kangaroo Island Pure Grain (KIPG), played host to a group of 10 delegates visiting our region from Japan.
The delegates, who are regular visitors to South Australia, represented:
- Kanematsu Corporation – a general trading company with a global network that does significant business in Australia. They are also an investor in KIPG.
- Hirata Industry – a specialist non-GMO canola oil manufacturer that uses KIPG canola.
- Pal System – a retailer using a co-operative structure to deliver good directly to more than 1.6m homes in and around Tokyo. Pal System’s annual turnover exceeds AUS$3.5B.
For more than 2 decades, these organisations have been trading with KI Pure Grain for non-GMO canola and Island Beehive Ligurian Bee Honey, forging close professional relationships with these businesses and local communities.
Regional Development Australia co-ordinated a visit to Gemtree Wines in McLaren Vale, where the delegates sampled the company’s biodynamic wines and South Australian juices from Besa Juice based in the Adelaide Hills.
Regional Development Australia takes an active role in building and strengthening ties with trading partners. With this delegation, our objectives were to:
- Understand the delegations’ ongoing commercial interests in our region.
- Introduce the delegation to our regional producers, including organic wine and fruit juice producers.
- Expand our Japanese delegates’ understanding of the region and its opportunities.
- Follow-up with all parties to facilitate trade opportunities.
Our delegates’ visit concluded with a luncheon at Parliament House hosted by the Hon. Clair Scriven, Minister for Primary Industries, and attended by Regional Development and Forestry, RDA Adelaide Metro CEO, Chris Wood, and RDA AHFKI Director of Regional Development, Steve Shotton.