Aussies get a taste for foreign food

ROBERT Bryant says that as Australians' palates diversify and expand, so does the volume of imported food.

The general manager of market research giant IBISWorld said that the amount of imported fruit, vegetables and particularly seafood on shop shelves is on the rise, with foreign produce from both these sectors now making up 30 per cent and 4.2pc of each respective market.

“In the last decade, Thailand, Vietnam and China have invested heavily in aquaculture, increasing the capacity to become leading seafood exporters,” Mr Bryant said.

“In Australia the 'goong' or Thai prawn, is amongst the most popular seafood products.”

By year's end, Australia’s fruit and vegetables imports are tipped to be worth $1.7 billion, representing a market share of 20.4pc.

Import figures for wine, meat and dairy are also on the way up.

While not breaking out of single digits (yet), dairy imports of ice-cream, cheese, milk powder, milk, cream and butter has grown 7.1 per cent per annum since 2005.

Bacon, ham, cured meats and salamis from countries such as Canada, America, New Zealand and Denmark, is expected to make up 4.1pc of the amount of processed meat consumed in Australia in 2015, up from 3.1pc this year.

And one in every ten bottles of wine consumed nation-wide has been made from grapes grown in foreign soil.

Mr Bryant suspects much of the growth in imported food stemed from Australians being introduced to different foods from TV shows such as MasterChef, and singled out gourmet cheese to be a particular benefactor.

“Feta is currently the fastest growing type of cheese in the Australian market,” he said.

Australian imports less than 1pc of all meat consumed – a figure that has remained constant since prior to the introduction of the “mad cow ban’ in 2002.

IBISWorld estimate the total value of imported seafood at close to $1.05 billion.