Australia Food and Drink Report Q1 2008 Available Now

DUBLIN, Ireland--(Business Wire)--
Research and Markets
(http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c84654) has announced the
addition of "Australia Food and Drink Report Q1 2008" to their
offering.

The Australia Food Drink Report provides independent forecasts and
competitive intelligence on Australia's food and drink industry.

If one trend can account for Australia's ranking in the new Food &
Drink Business Environment Ratings it is premiumisation. This mature
market, with its relatively tiny population and vast areas of
unpopulated and under-developed land, ranks second out of 14 Asia
Pacific markets in terms of the potential it offers to would be food
and drink investors. A high spending population, intrigued by, and
willing to part with cash for, innovative products ensures attractive
consumption levels and yet these levels are forecast to grow further
still thanks to industry dynamism and the continued pursuit of
premiumisation. In the newly-published Q108 Australia Food & Drink
Report we examine the nature of the investments driving industry
growth and assess the five-year sales outlook for the industry.

Two of our industry forecasts that best demonstrate the extent of
premiumisation in the local market are our food consumption forecast
and our confectionery sales forecast. Food consumption is forecast to
increase by 10.4% to US$32.28bn in 2011. This represents considerable
growth in a market in which food consumption in volume terms is
forecast to remain fairly constant. Of course, this growth will in
part by fuelled by rising food prices; a global trend caused by severe
climatic extremities of the past couple of years, by heavy demand from
the alternative energy sector and by soaring fuel prices which push up
both production and transportation costs. However, this growth also
reflects an ever-growing Australian demand for higher-value,
better-quality food and beverage products. Growth in the confectionery
sector perhaps sums this up best. This is a completely non-essential
product category which consumers would simply retreat from should
rising food prices jeopardise their spending patterns. However, our
confectionery sales growth forecast of 5.3% to 2011 in volume terms,
is completely usurped by our growth forecast of 17% in value terms,
reflecting the fact that Australian consumers are still buying
nonessential goods such as confectionery and are increasingly buying
more expensive, added-value variants.

This trend is in evidence across multiple sectors of the food and
drink industry; soft drinks, alcoholic drinks, frozen foods, snacks
and processed foods among them. Two, reasonably small, yet significant
investments from the last three months, ably highlight the phenomenon.
Coopers Brewery - a mere bit part player in Australia's vast beer
market - announced plans to invest US$9.7mn in production and
warehousing in order to boost its market share from 3% to 5% by 2011.
The company plans to exploit interest in its premium niche and
boutique brands to get one over on the industry giants whose expertise
lies in the mass-market sector. Meanwhile US food major Heinz
announced a US$8.6mn investment in its Wagga Wagga processing plant,
the bulk of which would go towards a new ready meal line. This is
notable not just because of the impact that convenience foods such as
ready meals have on the value of food sales in Australia, but because
it highlights a rare case of a global major opting to stay in
Australia and exploit the market's potential from within rather than
looking to the low-cost and potentially higher growth markets of Asia.
In summary, the Australia food and beverage market might be mature,
but it remains immensely profitable and dynamic.

Companies Mentioned:

- Aldi

- Coca-Cola Amatil

- Foster's Group

- National Foods

- Woolworths

For more information, visit
here

Research and Markets
Laura Wood, Senior Manager
Fax: +353 1 4100 980
press@researchandmarkets.com

Copyright Business Wire 2008