A SHIFT in demand towards more organic products was on full display at FarmFest 2022 with several exhibitors displaying a variety of organic-certified products.
Among them was Darling Downs operation Clayton's Organic Beef, which has recently expanded the network of its export market to include Singapore as well as the Middle East.
The expansion comes after the Kingsthorpe producer received a $10,000 grant from the state government as part of its $440,000 E-commerce Grants Program, which was also given to 24 other regional producers.
After launching the business in 2011, company director Clayton Sargood said the demand for organic products was continuing to grow internationally and domestically.
"Just recently we completed a shipment to Singapore and that international market has just continued to grow," Mr Sargood said.
"The organics industry was a bit slow getting off the ground but there is some real momentum building behind it now.
"I'd say the amount of organic producers has tripled over the past 20 years, if not more than that."
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Mr Sargood said changing consumer priorities and access to new markets were some of the key reasons more producers were entering the organics scene.
"There's a push for us to get back to a sustainable industry and with organics, you can only do what the environment lets you do, so it is a sustainable industry," he said.
"I think there is a lot of people doing half organic and half conventional, which I put down to people wanting to have multiple options to market their products.
"However, organic products can be sold in any market, but if you're in the conventional world you can't go into the EU or organic markets.
"I can certainly see more people looking to go organic in the future, that's for sure."
Despite being based on the Darling Downs, this year's FarmFest marked the company's first, which Clayton's marketing manager Anna Kemph said was "a great experience".
"This is the first time we've exhibited at FarmFest, which is quite funny because we are based just up the road at Kingsthorpe, but we thought we'd give it a go this year," she said.
"Interest has been fantastic over the past three days and it has been really good to chat to people who are looking at becoming organic certified.
"It can take a few years for that process to be complete but you've got to start somewhere."
Billy Jupp
Billy is a Senior Livestock Journalist for the Queensland Country Life based in Toowoomba. He has worked for a variety of different ACM mastheads during the past five years including the Namoi Valley Independent, Northern Daily Leader and The Land.
Billy is a Senior Livestock Journalist for the Queensland Country Life based in Toowoomba. He has worked for a variety of different ACM mastheads during the past five years including the Namoi Valley Independent, Northern Daily Leader and The Land.
