“This grant is part of the Australian Government’s $13.8 million Farm Co-operatives and Collaboration Pilot Program—an investment in giving farmers the skills and resources to take greater control of the supply chain for their goods,” Assistant Minister to the Deputy Prime Minister, Luke Hartsuyker said.

“The Professional Fishermen’s Association project is a prime example of this, as they investigate how eel fishers can work together to cost-effectively send consolidated shipments of live eels to China.

“Individual eel fishers currently rely on an exporter to sell their product to Chinese importers and have no direct knowledge and understanding of the Asian market where 90 per cent of their product current goes.

“They will now be able to conduct market research to determine opportunities for Australian wild caught eels in China, including consumer demand patterns, competitor analysis, channel and supply chain partner identification, and product formats.

“They will seek to target the emerging consumer class in China who are looking for clean green and healthy seafood products, and provide greater stability for the industry and ensure long term profitability for individual businesses.

“This project will look to develop business model options for the group to operate collaboratively.

“This is one of 40 grants to help interested businesses across the nation to move towards forming co-operatives or other collaborative business arrangements.

“We are helping Australian farmers to take advantage of collaboration and the cooperative structure as a mechanism to achieving better and fairer returns back through the farmgate.

“The Farm Co-operatives and Collaboration Pilot Program is one more initiative delivered through the Coalition Government’s $4 billion Agriculture Competitiveness White Paper.”

The Farm Co-operatives and Collaboration Pilot Program is being delivered by the Southern Cross University on behalf of the Australian Government. 

For more information on the grants visit farmingtogether.com.au.