Australian Agricultural : AACo wins National Agribusiness Export Award

AUSTRALIA i AGRICULTURAL COMPAUV LI IITED

The Australian Agricultural Company was last night named the winner of the Australian Export Awards Agribusiness category,recognising the company's outstanding success in supplying the finest Australian beef to the world.
The award was for "outstanding international success in the field of agricultural products, services or technology including processed foods and beverages and the forestry,fisheries and fibres industries".
AACo Managing Director Jason Strong said the award recognised the effort the company had put into transforming the company from a pastoral company into a global beef business.
"AACo is now providing premium beefto more than 20 countries around the world," he said.
"We supply about 50 per cent of ali Australia's premium Wagyu beef exports.
"The award recognizes that we are now a truly vertically integrated business- from our cattle herds on our stations in Northern Australia to our world-class marketing and supply chain and now to our new $91 million Livingstone Beef processing facility near Darwin.
"Our staff have worked tremendously hard this year to execute this major transformation and the results are showing, with 76 per cent of our revenue in the first half of our financial year now coming from branded beef sales."
lt is the second time AACo has won the National Agribusiness Export Award,with a previous win in 2012.
The national award caps a significant year of recognition for AACo, which has won gold medals for its flagship Master Kobe Wagyu beef at the Australian Wagyu Association awards and gold medals for its Darling Downs Wagyu at the Brisbane,Sydney and Melbourne Fine Food shows.

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The Australian Export Awards is a national program that recognises and honours Australian companies engaged in international business who have achieved sustainable growth through innovation and commitment. The awards measure businesses against their peers based on the strength oftheir international growth, marketing and financial strategies.

Trade Minister Andrew Robb said in a statement that award winning companies like the Australian Agricultural Company have long-known the value of expanding business horizons through diversification and revolutionising their practices.

Mr Robb said there was the potential for exporters to increase their export-market share even further, following recent trade deals struck by the Government.

'This year we have secured Free Trade Agreements with our three largest export markets­ China,Japan and Korea- giving Australia unparalleled access to the world's most exciting and dynamic region," Mr Robb said.

"These three agreements account for 61 per cent of our goods exports and 19 per cent of our services trade. The opportunities created by this trifecta of agreements herald the start of an exciting era of growth for our home-grown businesses in a variety of sectors­ from food production to manufacturing,mining, tourism and everything in between."

The Australian Trade Commission (Austrade) and the Australian Chamber of Commerce and lndustry (ACCI) partner to present this national program,one ofthe longest running business awards programs in Australia and now in its 52nd year.

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