The Northern Adelaide Plains Food Region is a premium food production area in South Australia. The area is ideally situated for intensive horticulture production as it possesses fertile red-brown sandy soils and a Mediterranean climate characterised by hot, dry summers and mild, wet winters.
The region is home to a thriving, vibrant horticulture industry that lies immediately north of the Adelaide metropolitan area. It produces approximately 200,000 tonnes of fresh produce and over $300 million in farm gate value annually – this represents approximately a third of the production state-wide. The industry is largely comprised of family businesses – some of which have grown into multifaceted, large companies that use advanced processing techniques. The industry is fortunate to possess a skilled multicultural workforce that supplies premium products to discerning markets all over Australia and the world.
The industry has a solid foundation, but growers expressed a desire to see a greater focus on collaboration and growth: that’s where the Northern Adelaide Plains Food Cluster comes in. The Cluster is an industry-led organisation that is driving the strategic direction for the Northern Adelaide Plains with a focus on increasing profitability and sustainability for local businesses. A formal Governing Council was established in November 2018 following extensive consultation amongst stakeholders. The structure of the cluster Governing Council includes industry, industry associations, government representatives, universities and training organisations. Only industry members have voting rights on matters brought to the Council to ensure that all action meets the needs of industry.
Clusters are recognised internationally as an ideal model for creating economic growth within a constrained region such as the Northern Adelaide Plains. Our cluster is aiming to create tangible outcomes across the local community and set our region up for success in the future.
Through an industry consultation process, the following key areas of operation have been identified:
Improving regional profile, appearance and infrastructure
Developing regional export markets
Regional labour plan
Group purchasing opportunities
Value-added processing
Increasing business acumen
The Northern Adelaide Plains Governing Council includes representation from the following organisations:
Industry
Barrie Lloyd (Chairperson)
Rod Knight
Henry Liu
Dino Musolino
Ken Carypidis
Tony Catanzariti
Matthew Sheedy
Scott Lewis
Stephanus Malherbe
Folco Faber
Vo Lloyd Farms
Thomas Foods International Fresh Produce
P'Petual
Hi-Tech
Pure Vision Wines
A&S Catanzariti
South Pacific Seeds
Lewis Horticulture
Biological Services
Apex Greenhouses
Industry Associations
Dr Howard Hollow
Charlie Luong
HortEx Alliance
Vietnamese Farmers Association
State Government Departments
Tamara Rohrlach
Gerry Davies
John Pitt
Anthony Fox
Ariane Towse
Primary Industries and Regions SA (PIRSA)
Department for Environment and Water
Department of Trade, Tourism and Investment
Local Government
City of Playford
Adelaide Plains Council
Dermot Cussen
Dr Tom Madigan
David Cowell
Economic Development Agencies
RDA Barossa
Gawler
Light & Adelaide Plains
Anne Moroney
Universities
Prof. John Van Leeuwen
Prof. Enzo Lombi
Prof. Andrew Lowe
Dr John Carragher
University of South Australia
University of Adelaide
Ironwood Institute
TAFE SA
Primary Industries Skills Council
Training Organisations
Navtej Bal
Voula Branch
Mark Cody
Independent
Jack Langberg