Small farms exports
Hi All,
I'm a University student, and while not a farmer, I am tasked with developing an innovation that would assist the agricultural industry.
I need some feedback on my idea, and given I’m only a city slicker (although I don’t intend to be forever) I don’t have the country connections I require! As such, I figured this lovely community is a great place to connect and get some feedback!
So basically I've done some research and found that smaller farms will have a more difficult time exporting, due to their size and resources. As such, these small farms miss out on the profits lucrative markets such as Asia, offer.
I thought perhaps having a website that consolidates the supply chain may be the way to solve this. So, the site connects farmers, distributors, and supermarkets in Asia. First, farmers would be granted membership to the site once the necessary export regulations and inspections were performed. Farmers then offer their produce online, for supermarkets in Asia to peruse, and these supermarkets post ads for what they wish to purchase. Farmers also have the option to connect with distributors, and perhaps garner discounts if a system can be worked out whereby produce is transported along with other farmer’s produce from the local area.
It’s very much a rough idea, but it would be absolutely fantastic if you could provide any feedback on:
How relevant/useful this would be to you as a farmer
How it may be developed further
Any problems that may arise
Also, feel free to post about any experiences you had with exporting, or your opinions on Australia’s agricultural exports.
Thank you so much for your help, it’s much appreciated!