The University of Melbourne and Mondelēz International Asia Pacific have launched “Unlocking the Food Value Chain: Australian Food Industry Transformation for ASEAN Markets.”
The ARC-funded research hub will aim to gain insights to unlock Asian consumer behaviour and market levers, and inform innovation in ingredient use, consumer experience and product design and packaging.
This will advance the positioning of Australia as a premium brand and lead to a sustained competitive advantage and will assist the creation of more productive supply chains across the food industry.
The $10 million collaborative research hub includes $2 million funding from the Australian Research Council (ARC) under the Industrial Transformation Research Programme (ITRP).
Research collaboration opportunities
The research hub is able to assist businesses by conducting research in priority areas.
Mondelēz International and the University of Melbourne have committed to share research outcomes with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and the wider sector through an open innovation model in a transformational project with national benefits.
It comprises six research streams, namely Consumer Insights, Market Analytics, Sensory Analysis, Supply Chain Management, Packaging Innovation, and Encapsulation and Emulsion.
The Unlocking the Food Value Chain hub draws on research expertise from five University of Melbourne faculties and schools: Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences; Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences; Science; Business and Economics; the School of Engineering as well as Swinburne University of Technology. Mondelēz International contributes extensive research and marketing experience in the Southeast Asian region to each of the streams.
Industry services
The research hub is also able to assist businesses by providing market intelligence services. For example, the Market Analytics team has developed a novel intellectual property searching technique which analyses consumer-identified attributes of premium food products to allow businesses to understand food innovation trends and opportunities in China, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Korea, Japan and India.
The hub has also refined Qualitative Multivariate Analysis (QMA), a method of comparing the marketability of new and existing products ASEAN markets.
Professor Frank Dunshea, hub Director and University of Melbourne Chair of Agriculture, said the development of the Unlocking the Food Value Chain hub had been guided by the needs of industry.
“The Australian food industry is driven by innovation – in how we target consumers, in the products we create, in how we market and deliver them,” he said.
“Businesses exporting to Southeast Asia need to understand their market and how they can deliver the best possible product at competitive prices. This hub provides services which will enable Australian businesses to do so.
“The Unlocking the Food Value Chain hub is working to help Australian businesses create products which have instant appeal for local consumers in South East Asian nations with technologically advanced processing and packaging.”