Twenty-nine students from The University of Queensland, Gatton Campus will fly to six different Asian destinations in the coming weeks as part of their Bachelor of Agribusiness degrees.
The "Thinking of Asia" project has been running for the past fourteen years as part of the Bachelor of Agribusiness program.
Students undertaking the course, AGRC3000: Food and Fibre Case Studies are working on market research projects for industry partners such as Elders Ltd, Vanderfield Machinery, Australian Macadamia Society, Piñata Marketing, Matilda Fresh and Sunshine Tropical Fruits.
Working in groups of four and five, the six groups will each travel to different locations to assess market opportunities for their products.
Destinations include Seoul, Bangkok, Singapore, Dubai, Western China and Shanghai. The groups will be overseas for 7 to 10 days.
In the lead up to their overseas research, students have been in contact with Austrade as well as organising interviews with Asian companies and government departments.
The Australian Macadamia Society is interested in introducing macadamia nuts into South Korea`s mainstream snack food industry. Currently Australian Macadamia nuts are only used in bakery items.
The Australian Macadamia Society group will be involved in conducting taste panels and supermarket surveys. Throughout the week they will also participate in a trade fair.
Students will be assessing whether consumers like the taste and whether consumers are aware of the product in comparison to other nuts already being sold in the market.
Group member Libbi Thompson said students would be interviewing economic agencies and nut importers to assess the current tree nut market and their perception of how Australian Macadamias would perform against those already established in the snack food market.
On return students will present their findings to their industry partners on the November 3 to coincide with the Annual Agribusiness Dinner that evening.
Media inquiries: Susanne Schick - UQ Gatton Campus (5460 1229, 0409 265 587).
Further information/comment: Contact Associate Professor Ray Collins (5460 1328).
