Despite the Girgarre tomato sauce factory closing, Heinz Australia remains committed to manufacturing in the Goulburn Valley region through its baby food factory in Echuca.
AFGC chief executive, Kate Carnell, said the major reasons why Australian food and grocery manufacturers were under so much pressure included the rising cost of labour, energy, water, transport and high commodity prices.
Carnell said: “The high Australian dollar is also making imported products cheaper, making it even more difficult for Australian-made brands we know and trust to compete on Australian supermarket shelves.
“Making matters worse, major retailers Coles and Woolworths are significantly increasing their private label brands and devoting more shelf-space to these products which are increasingly being sourced offshore due to lower production costs.”
AFGC’s 2020: Industry at a Crossroads report highlighted that failing to provide tax incentives for investment, improve skills development or create a level playing field in the highly-concentrated retail sector could result in up to 130,000 jobs being lost by 2020.
Carnell said to prevent job losses and maintain industry’s competitiveness, AFGC has called on all levels of Government take urgent action.
“Government needs to provide tax incentives to enable business to take advantage of the high Australian dollar to invest in large-scale plant equipment upgrades to improve efficiency. To ensure a fairer trading environment, the Government should appoint a Supermarket Ombudsman, who would enforce a Fair Trading Code of Conduct,” Carnell said.
“Consumers want to be confident about buying affordable food and grocery brands, that they know and trust. I urge all political leaders to seriously consider the necessary reforms and re-assess the current business-as-usual approach towards the sector. The time for a new policy menu to encourage investment, innovation and growth is now as the jobs and livelihoods of 312,000 Australians, and the future of our food supply, depend on it,” she concluded.
Source: AFGC
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