Central Coast Food Alliance was proud to partner with the Greater Cities Commission, University of Newcastle, Central Coast Research Institute and Central Coast Local Area Health to deliver the ‘Food + Health Ecosystem Collaboration’ workshop on Wednesday 27^th June 2023.

The event brought together more than 50 people from across the local Food and Beverage Manufacturing and Health Services ecosystems, to explore opportunities to work more collaboratively in order to accelerate innovation which improves health and wellbeing outcomes for our community and bolsters the economic significance of our local Manufacturing and Health sectors.

The workshop fostered dozens of new connections across the diverse network of attendees and sparked innovative thinking which could lead to new collaborative research or innovation projects.

Food and Beverage producers, researchers or health sector organisations working to improve health & wellbeing outcomes, should reach out to Alex Blow, Central Coast Food Alliance Manager to explore how local collaboration could help accelerate or scale their impact.

Investment NSW, Meat & Livestock Australia and the Central Coast Food Alliance were thrilled to host a group of food industry professionals from around the world, visiting the Central Coast on Friday June 2^nd, 2023.

The event provided a unique opportunity to promote Central Coast-based food and beverage producers as part of a week-long immersion designed to establish a network of global ambassadors who will showcase the quality of NSW agricultural and food products in their home countries, supporting export and business development opportunities for the local food industry.

The visiting delegation included 16 food industry professionals (head chefs, restauranteurs, retailers, food media & hospitality venue managers) from 11 countries, including Korea, Japan, China, Vietnam, Thailand, Taiwan, Indonesia, USA, UAE, Saudi Arabia, and England.

The event included highly engaging presentations from Ian Hemphill, Founder of Herbie’s Spices and Professor David Cameron-Smith from the University of Newcastle and local producers which showcased their products for the visitors included; Hawkesbury Brewing Co, East Coast Juices, Mars Food Australia, Eggzi, Ananda Food, Herbies Spices and Boutique Sauces.

The visiting delegating shared their perspectives on emerging food industry trends and innovation opportunities including;

• Education is key to driving Consumers’ understanding the functional benefits of everyday food and drink products
• ‘Small Batch’ production is a motivating claim for Consumers, as it implies lower processing and higher quality
• Price is important, but Quality is the #1 consideration particularly for high-end restaurants
• Soil quality and ethical and regenerative farming techniques are increasingly important to Consumers and Buyers
• Avoiding ‘green-washing’ in marketing is critical to maintaining credibility

The visitors also observed that the Central Coast Food industry is unique in the world for its high levels of connectedness and the way it works collaboratively and leverages complementary strengths.

Central Coast-based food beverage businesses wanting to explore export opportunities should contact Sharon Foster, Senior Export Adviser, Investment NSW via email sharon.foster@investment.nsw.gov.au.