Challenge

The Mort & Co name has been part of Australia’s agricultural landscape since the mid-1800s. Under the guidance of current proprietor Charlie Mort the company is a lot feeding specialist, offering supply chain services to producers and graziers, and providing premium Wagyu and Black Angus beef products to customers worldwide.

In 2018 Brett Williams was appointed General Manager for meat sales and operations. He was tasked with assessing existing processes and supply chain management, with a view to rationalisation.

Solution

Brett comes from a process and management background. He identified areas of potential improvement including clarity around product quality and specification, as it pertained to customer expectation, along with the mechanism to better deliver that clarity. He also saw potential for sustainable growth and development of the Mort & Co team, and a charter common to every business — cost reduction.

Mort & Co supplies Black Angus and Wagyu beef of varying grades under the Phoenix brand name. The company had existing sales arrangements within specific geographic territories but encountered discrepancies regarding product quality and specifications. The team spent considerable time in market, meeting with customers to understand their needs and to ensure those relationships were built from a place of mutual benefit, rather than from the product up.

Rectifying these issues meant in-house changes including deployment of dedicated quality management personnel to perform and oversee

inspections and associated tasks, rather than utilising staff from adjacent business areas as had previously been the case. Production processes were rationalised to avoid double-handling and marketing efforts augmented to build better awareness around product grades and brands.

Outcome

The implemented changes have had the desired effect: unwieldy processes have been streamlined, customer expectations and relationships aligned, and costs reduced. That success has consequently helped build a strong workforce with a focus on safety, mental fitness and teamwork. The upshot is a more agile organisation, able to clearly define its offering and better positioned to withstand the inherent fluctuations that international markets present.

Challenge

The Story family has been producing leafy vegetables for generations. Originally working in a central market system, by the 1990s it was clear there was opportunity to add value. Story Fresh recognised a market need for cut, washed and packaged product, supplied as a ready-to-eat (RTE) option for the QSR, cafe, restaurant and food service markets.

Food safety is paramount in RTE products, requiring implementation of a robust quality and safety system that covers the entire food journey, from seed to plate.

Solution

Fresh evolved to the 100% value-add enterprise it is today over a decade ago, with the range extended to incorporate ready-to-use shredded lettuce, carrot and onion, as well as baby leaf products including spinach, wild rocket and mesclun.

Keen to explore additional opportunities, Story Fresh began researching export markets. Given the onerous cold chain management burden, along with Australia’s relatively high costs, entering the export food service market would be difficult. Rather than trying to compete, Story Fresh developed a suitable retail export product instead, along with a greenfield factory that could facilitate the output capability and growth required.

Part of that process has been implementation of leading-edge processing, traceability, cold chain management and food safety technology. Direct processing from the four Story Fresh farms negates storage and transport needs, meaning produce is cut, cooled, washed, packed and shipped within 24 hours of harvest, servicing customers year-round. The robust quality system meets the most stringent of customer standards and allows two-way traceability from farm to customer and back.

Outcome

The 100% Australian-owned company is testament to how technology and innovation can be used to develop new ideas and advance into additional markets.

Managing Director Geoffrey Story said that TSBE has played a significant role — from organising trade missions to fostering knowledge sharing and collaboration, it has helped put the region on the map, generating fresh interest and creating all-important local jobs.

Challenge

In the mining boom of the late 2000s, when it became hard to find workers, farmers like Andrew Bate went ‘big’. Bigger tractors, planters and sprayers were the obvious solution for producers trying to do more with fewer people. Andrew noticed that the bigger the equipment, the more the compromise in terms of results. Bigger machines were also complicated and expensive, creating further problems.

There were other issues at play — herbicide resistance was on the rise. Much like antibiotics, overuse was reducing effectiveness and there’s

nothing coming down the line to replace them. Andrew’s land is located in the reef catchment area, so he must employ suitable practices to minimise soil erosion and run-off — things like maintaining double ground cover, which means using glyphosate. While he watched resistance levels rise, ploughing looked like the only solution, a fix that would quickly undermine reef protection strategies.

Solution

While that perfect storm was brewing, Andrew decided to follow his ethos — growing the best possible crops in the most sustainable way. For him, robotics seemed to hold all the answers.

A lot of farming solutions utilise big data and take a precision approach, but Andrew believes a better alternative is one that changes field practices. SwarmFarm incorporates small, lightweight autonomous robots that can operate as a single unit in an orchard or in a multiple ‘swarm’ array on a massive scale. Simple enough that a farmer can fix them, they counter the ‘right to repair’ battles inherent in a lot of farm machinery.

The true beauty of SwarmFarm is its open developer ecosystem — it’s essentially a platform for other companies and developers to release apps and additional hardware for use on board the robots to solve farm-specific problems. It’s driving new developments in farming not seen at this level since the Industrial Revolution.

Outcome

The vision for SwarmFarm is so large, Andrew can’t possibly develop every solution. But in creating a platform that the smartest minds in the world can access and collaborate on, the future of agriculture looks bright.

Challenge

Issues of quality nutrition and accessibility become increasingly important in an ageing population. While hard-to-open packaging is a barrier for all consumers, it is particularly troublesome for those with fine-motor impairment. Injury can result through use of knives or scissors and a high degree of wastage occurs through product spillage or product discard when opening attempts are unsuccessful.

In hospital and home care settings, consumer dexterity and/or cognition issues can be a barrier to nutrition, leading SPC ProVital to elevate accessibility of its fruit-based products used in the healthcare industry, improving consumer access to quality nutrition while minimising food waste.

Solution

The SPC ProVital team worked with industry experts, including Arthritis Australia’s Accessible Design Division, Dr Brad Fain of Georgia Tech Research Institute and HealthShare NSW to develop a portion-control cup utilising the Initial Scientific Review (ISR) Accessibility Rating — a measure used to predict the percentage of the population who can open product without assistance. In hospital testing this included patients with reduced fine motor skills, dexterity and strength.

The cup features an easy-grip decagon shape, textured lengthened pull tab, clear and helpful instructions in a large font for improved legibility and an optimised seal to reduce opening force.

Outcome

SPC ProVital’s cup range was a world-first packaging innovation, receiving Arthritis Australia’s highest possible accessibility rating and Easy-to-Open certification. The +8 rating predicts that 95% of the population can open the fruit cup easily, greatly enhancing nutritional access for users.

SPC ProVital has been recognised globally by the packaging industry as an accessible food packaging solution. It was awarded the 2016 Save Food Packaging Award from the Australian Institute of Packaging (AIP), a 2018 WorldStar Packaging Award from the World Packaging Organisation (WPO) and the PIDA 2019 Australasian Packaging Innovation & Design Award for Accessible Packaging Design. SPC ProVital products are currently available through hospitals and aged-care facilities, with further plans for expansion.

Challenge

When Patrick Edwards decided to move from IT into robotics, he was looking for a problem to solve. Seeing the challenges faced by Riverina citrus growers — specifically the difficulties in acquiring and cultivating a dependable workforce to harvest produce — he knew he could help.

It’s an undisputable fact that no-one likes to pick oranges. Compounding that issue, growers compete with one another for harvest labour, drawn from a small potential pool of itinerant workers, hindering their ability to efficiently bring product to market.

Solution

Patrick knew solving the problem meant bettering human labour results, so he set about developing a robotic harvester that offered an alternative to manual picking, inclusive of object detection capability.

Early iterations utilised SVM artificial intelligence, which offered good detection results but required a lot of training to handle variations in conditions like light levels and shadows. The project stalled for a time, after which UBOT implemented r-cnn object detection, which was an order of magnitude greater and produced far better results. A team of Master of Data Science students at James Cook University have been developing a smaller AI object detection model with promising results — a model using electronics and drawing less power will allow the robot to run for longer.

Keeping the build cost down has been a priority for UBOT, knowing that the market for million-dollar robots with a 20-year ROI would be non-existent. He used off-the-shelf motors and electronics to facilitate that endeavour, with the latest version offering a return in as little as one year.

Outcome

Commercialisation is close, with a new beta version currently being built. The ultimate goal is to run robots 24 hours a day, seven days a week, giving farmers a low-cost alternative to an unpredictable labour force. While the local market is relatively small, growers have suggested they could easily double their acreage if not for labour limitations. Seems like UBOT is just what the citrus industry needs.

Challenge

Pangkarra Foods is a family owned and operated business, located in South Australia’s Clare Valley. For five generations, the company has farmed quality cereals, legumes and export hay. Using ingredients grown on its farms, Pangkarra has long produced fine food products including premium wholegrain dry pasta, stone milled durum flour and wholegrain lavosh.

Seeing opportunity to value add and believing in quality through every step of the supply chain, the Pangkarra Foods range has grown to include nutritious protein-rich snack alternatives made from chickpeas, faba beans and broad beans that meet with the demands of today’s health conscious consumer.

Solution

The latest addition is the new POD (Protein on Demand) range of ready-to-go roasted pulse snacks. The 40 g snack-sized packages are

available in three savoury flavours: Roasted Chickpeas with Garlic and Salt, Roasted Faba and Broad Beans with Lemon, Thyme and Black Pepper, as well as Roasted and Faba Beans with Rosemary and Sea Salt. Less common to the health snack market, three sweet options round out the offering including: Coated Roasted Chickpeas in Dark Chocolate, Yogurt Coated Roasted Chickpeas with Vanilla and Cinnamon and Yogurt Coated Roasted Chickpeas with Lemon.

The entire range uses 100% faba beans and chickpeas, with natural seasonings and low-sugar yogurt and chocolate coatings. Gluten, nut and preservative free, POD products offer a generous protein serve, utilising natural age-old protein sources and offering a genuinely healthy alternative to some of the higher sugar protein bar products on the market.

Outcome

As a member of Food SA, Pangkarra Foods has been exposed to new opportunities through networking activities and educational workshops. Having access to insightful and experienced collaborators has allowed the company to elevate its brand and open new doors, allowing it to take its value-add business to an ever-increasing new customer base.

Challenge

When a smallgoods client sought to review existing packaging, Metalprint was asked for a solution that would be less generic. Extension of product shelf life was a key requirement, as was a way to address consumer demand for a more user-friendly portion-managed solution.

Current packaging was uninspired in terms of differentiation, did not guarantee the shelf life targets desired and was not functional in terms of resealability, messaging or differentiation.

Solution

To address the extended shelf life requirement, Metalprint engaged partner Mitsubishi Corporation, recognised leaders in oxygen-absorbing technology.

Within Japan, Mitsubishi had successfully developed solutions for pouch and lidding film applications in ready-cooked meals and pouches for oxygen-sensitive foods including fruit snacks. This was achieved using Ageless OMAC, a highly specialised food-safe film technology. Designed to preserve freshness, flavour and aroma, OMAC protects against colour change, prevents mould growth, maintains nutrition and prevents oxidation of fats and oils.

It incorporates the functional performance of Mitsubishi’s Oxygen Absorbing sachet directly into the pouch material, negating the need for a

separate sachet inside the pouch. OMAC is suitable for a range of processing conditions including retort and hot filling applications.

Together Metalprint and Mitsubishi developed the ideal pouch for a cold chain environment and achieved the first use of OMAC material outside of Japan. The pouch absorbs any residual oxygen, preserves the product and extends shelf life while improving food quality and appearance.

Outcome

The new pouch was able to outperform the shelf life of the legacy pack format by a significant factor. It was demonstrated to scavenge 100% of residual oxygen and, using its barrier properties, maintain the pouch interior oxygen level at zero for a period of months longer than the specified required shelf life.

Awarded Silver in the Labelling & Decoration Category at the PIDA 2019 Awards, the pack creates a more reliable product and delivers logistics improvements that provide cost-effective access to export markets.

Challenge

Hamish Coates comes from a long line of farmers. His family has been running a mix of dairy and beef cattle in WA’s Busselton for five generations. Around four years ago he started to think about the future uses of land and how other agricultural offerings could be incorporated to develop a more sustainable environment.

Solution

Hamish had been working in a brewery, so thought that might be an interesting path to follow. When he started to investigate growing the barley and hops required in the brewing process, he was told that hops would never grow in the region. Not one to be told “that won’t work”, he made it his mission to prove the naysayers wrong.

A few years of trials produced great yields and good plants, which was all the encouragement Hamish needed and Rocky Ridge Brewing was born. The focus increasingly became on sustainability, with an emphasis on reduce, reuse, recycle.

With the aim of self-sufficiency, the brewery is powered entirely by a massive off-grid solar system. Water conservation is a priority, with

systems continually being developed and refined to minimise use, particularly as the state’s southwest remains in the midst of sustained drought. Where possible, wastewater is reused within the brewery itself and plastic has been completely removed from the entire operation. By-products like spent grain get fed back to the animals, bridging the dairy and brewing operations.

Outcome

Hamish took part in a series of full-day workshops with Agristart, which gave him the opportunity to be introspective and think about future plans, a task made difficult when buried in the day-today running. It gave him the distance needed to analyse business strengths and weaknesses and to seek expert advice.

He not only proved the impossible could be done, he spearheaded a new local industry, with around seven growers of reasonable scale popping up in the area. The Rocky Ridge core ideal is to be a positive change in the community.

Mission accomplished.

Challenge

Disease detection in agronomy hasn’t changed much since the 1950s, with current detection and management practices leaning towards the reactive end of the scale.

Where growers apply fungicide sprays based on the presence of symptoms or employ a calendar-based program fundamentally tied to historical conditions, the application is often too late to be of real benefit. While the use of passive spore traps can reliably detect the presence of disease and deliver an accurate diagnosis, that information is received two to three weeks beyond its useful point.

When a PhD candidate and two honours students from the University of Sydney were researching a problem common to both healthcare and agriculture — the spread of airborne disease — the idea for an efficient way of tracking the spread of crop pathogens like stripe rust in wheat began to develop.

Solution

Where other technology offerings claim to investigate disease, many utilise satellite imagery and algorithms to determine plant stress and are therefore bound by the same time delay issue as the tried-and-true solutions of yesteryear.

The patented BioScout Platform is built for farm fields and uses a combination of air sampling, mapping and data analytics to track disease spread. Sensors are placed throughout the field to send crucial data to the disease dashboard and text message alerts of high threats.

The dashboard translates data inputs and location-based information for predictive modelling of infestation, allowing users to see potential disease spread and threat vectors.

This information permits a more proactive approach, allowing growers to pinpoint precisely where fungicide application is required, before symptoms even appear, delivering a better yield quality outcome and minimising potential financial losses.

Outcome

The BioScout platform has been proven to detect a range of diseases and pathogens across many fruit and nut crops and the team hopes to finalise commercialisation within 12 months.