A consortium consisting of food value chain companies, researchers, government and regulatory agencies and technology providers is hoping to use the Internet of Things and other innovative technologies to improve food supply sustainability and profitability.

Dubbed the Food Agility Cooperative Research Centre (Food Agility CRC), its mission is to “tackle real food industry problems working with innovative digital technology and talented people to make a difference.”

The group has recognised that digital technology is the key to improving food industry outcomes, and will focus on and create projects based on four key tenets:

• Helping Australia’s food producers provide the right products, for the right markets at the right time by deploying faster real-time data intelligence and predictive analytics
• Leveraging Australia’s reputation for high quality and safe food while cutting the cost of red tape and shaping a clean and green Aussie food brand overseas
• Increasing access to finance by leveraging data to provide better finance access and reduction of environmental risk
• Building a highly productive and skilled future workforce using decision support systems to scale knowledge across the value chain, building ‘data farming’ capabilities and leveraging advances in technology

Australian agriculture start-up The Yield is a member of this research group, and its founding director Dr Michael Briers is spearheading the Food Agility campaign.

Briers said that perishables transported in ideal conditions could theoretically extend their use by dates beyond what is labelled on the products. Conversely, those products transported in less than ideal circumstances would shorten their shelf life, and therefore invalidate the labelled date.

“There are sensors now that change colours when they’ve been exposed to a certain temperature for a certain amount of time that could be used to indicate the transport quality of food,” he said.

He said the challenge for the Food Agility consortium will be lifting production, lifting food quality, finding ways to assist farmers to add value and therefore improve their margins, and proving the quality and authenticity of products when they arrive in foreign markets. To read more click here.