BENEFIT TO THE ECONOMY

Murraylands Food Alliance

SALES REVENUE

In 2013, the Murraylands Food Alliance's combined sales revenue was over $1.5 billion (including operations in other parts of the state and country). Over 3,300 people were employed in these member companies Australia wide.

In the Murraylands region itself, Econsearch estimated that the total revenue from operations by these companies specifically from the Murraylands region to be $910 million and employing approximately 1,847 fte.

PRODUCTION VOLUMES

More than 2.5 million tonnes of produce and 1.5 million litres of other product in 2013 made its way to local, intrastate, interstate and international markets* from the member companies of the MFA in 2013. This equates to a total volume of 8,520 containers and 42,500 pallets of food produce that was produced or value added by MFA members.

CAPITAL EXPENDITURE

The consolidated Capital Expenditure of the member companies in 2013 was almost $52 million with member companies spending significant amounts on expansion and upgrading of facilities, sustainable energy initiatives, farm equipment and machinery. In doing so they stimulated the local and state economies as they confidently prepare themselves for future growth in their businesses and prosperity for the region.

ECONOMIC IMPACT

Analysis by Econsearch has indicated that the Murraylands Food Alliance contributes $769 million in Gross Regional Product (GRP) which is 48 per cent or almost half of the 2011/12 entire Murraylands GRP ($1.61 billion). This results in 6,917 full time equivalent (FTE) jobs which is 47 per cent of 2011/12 regional employment in the Murraylands region.

FLOW ON EFFECTS

Econsearch compared the direct economic impacts against the value added (GRP equivalent for these industries) and employment for food related agriculture and manufacturing sectors (i.e. excluding wine grapes, wine and other beverage manufacturing and seafood catch and manufacturing).

The Murraylands Major Food Group contributes:

54 per cent to food related value added ($670million in 2011/12) in the Murraylands region and
37 per cent to food related employment (fte) (5,005 fte jobs in 2011/12) in the Murraylands region
In addition Econsearch estimated that the sectors where the flow-on
impacts are likely to be the greatest are:

GRP: beef cattle (25 per cent), ownership of dwellings (9 per cent), road transport (8 per cent), sheep (8 per cent) and retail trade (6 per cent).
Employment (fte): beef cattle (47 per cent), retail trade (9 per cent), road transport (7 per cent), sheep (6 per cent) and personal and other services (4 per cent).

SUPPLIERS

Suppliers to MFA members benefited greatly from a staggering total expenditure of more than $441 million in 2013, of which $388 million (87.9%) was spent within the state and an additional $53 million (12.1%) was spent on interstate suppliers.

SUPPORTING INDUSTRIES

The MFA has also attracted businesses to the region, relevant to supporting the scale of its activities. Without being exhaustive, examples include; attraction of businesses in the following areas: