Historical document
Organic horticulture - expanded field trials and supply chain data tracking (HG12033)
Publication date: January 1, 2014
Delivery Partner: Dench McClean Carlson
This is a final research report from Hort Innovation’s historical archives. Please note that as these reports may date back as far as the 1990s, the content and recommendations within them may be superseded by more recent research.
The challenge remained for the organic horticulture sector to achieve greater supply consistency, quality and volumes for existing markets domestically.
The initial project “Trialling new production and marketing networks for the organic sector” (HG 10054, 2012) provided a key stepping stone for the industry to achieve a greater level of supply consistency for identified demand.
This expansion in field-trials and grower meetings had built upon this work to assist with producer capacity to enact plans to expand their own operations to meet this ongoing (and growing) gap in supply for in-demand organic fresh produce.
The project’s goal was to work with existing suppliers, and interested non-organic producers, to deliver horticulture supply chain improvements and expansion in the organic sector nationally.
The benefits and outcomes to further the development of the organic horticulture industry included:
More of these outcomes were critical for this industry over the coming years if it was to effectively supply into and meet the rising demand for certified organic product.
Woolworths supply chain gaps reports clearly highlighted both opportunity for interested parties to produce and supply a specific number of organic produce lines into big retail, while also showing how over the previous two years that consistency of supply of some produce lines (carrots and potatoes in particular) had driven sales higher, building confidence in retail buyers and consumers alike, in turn delivering greater certainty for the producer-suppliers of those produce lines.
The challenge now for this industry was to see similar producers step up to the challenge to fill the other clearly identified produce supply gaps. Up until this report's publication, this had not yet been achieved and required further work in field yet, and investment at producer level, to close these supply gaps for good.
This historical project was a strategic investment funded by Hort Innovation
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