Horticulture Statistics Handbook
The annual Horticulture Statistics Handbook produced by Horticulture Innovation Australia provides data on market size, value, structure and consumption of horticulture crops in Australia. It covers 74 horticultural categories including all fruit, vegetable, nuts and amenity crops. This information provides the most accurate view available through the Australian fresh market wholesale value and volume for each category.
The workshop material below remains relevant to those seeking to develop successful fresh food supply chains. Use these tools with the information gathered from the latest annual Horticulture Handbook.
Market Profiles - Information Sheets
Preliminary market research has been conducted on the enterprises that are part of the
enterprise suitability mapping. This work provides an initial overview of such issues as current markets, consumer buying trends, market outlook, and potential future markets.
Business Structures
There are a number of possible business structures for a farming enterprise. The most common ones are corporations/companies, partnerships, cooperatives and joint ventures. This section currently contains information provided by the Department of Primary Industries, Victoria.
The following information is reproduced with permission from work provided by the Department of Primary Industries, Victoria.
Business Structures (233 KB)
Alternative Business Structures
The Tasmanian vegetable industry is facing a period of structural adjustment. Industry sources report that the vegetable farming sector is likely to shift business structures over the next few years, resulting in fewer and larger businesses and/or cooperative or leasing arrangements with smaller growers. These changes are occurring due to an ongoing requirement to produce food cheaply and a good way to do this is by taking advantage of economies of scale. Economies of scale describe spreading of overhead (fixed) costs across additional land or vegetables produced.
As part of the alternative business structures for the Tasmanian vegetable, potato and onion industries project a series of information sheets have been produced for vegetable growers to help evaluate opportunities to improve profit through increasing economies of scale, leasing and/or collective marketing.
The information sheets available below are:
- Increasing productivity - achieving economies of scale in vegetable production;
- A new business structure - the options and benefits;
- Collaborative business models;
- Collective marketing - selling vegetables profitably!;
- Land leasing; and,
- Legal business structures.
An excel calculator (scale of vegetable production - profit calculator) has also been developed to allow a rapid assessment for options to improve economies of scale.
It is important to seek professional advice on choosing the correct business structure that will take into account personal situations, existing and anticipated business activities, future objectives, costs, and the taxation and legal implications.
Increasing Productivity (2.19 MB)
A New Business Structure - the options and benefits (1.51 MB)
Collaborative Business Models (1014 KB)
Collective Marketing - selling vegetables profitably (1.19 MB)
Land Leasing (997 KB)
Legal Business Structures (1.67 MB)
Excel calculator:
Scale of Vegetable Production - Profit Calculator
(28Kb)
Additional Tools
There are a number of tools available that can assist you in understanding markets and making more informed decisions. These include:
Harvest to Home: This site provides latest information on market commodities and where market opportunities may be available.FOODmap: This work was prepared for the Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry by Freshlogic. This report considers the whole food supply chain, from production to processing, imports to exports, to the retail and food service sectors. The report builds on 2007's FOODmap by taking a deeper look into product flows, the effects of international trade, consumer behaviour, supply chain pressure points, food security, and the issues facing the food processing sector. It was last revised in July 2012.