The Market Online - At The Bell

Join our daily newsletter At The Bell to receive exclusive market insights

  • West Australian company Wide Open Agriculture has secured a major licence today that will see it go global
  • The company now has its hands on a meat export licence for business opportunities in the Southeast Asian market
  • Wide Open practices “regenerative farming” — a business model of cultivation that aims to preserve the environment and reduce the human footprint
  • This practice speaks to an emerging interest in consumers around the world that seek to support cleaner agriculture
  • Shares in the company underwent a massive boost of 16.7 per cent today to trade for 17.5 cents each

Are you familiar with regenerative agriculture? The practice that promotes clean farming for high quality produce and low-human presence.

One West Australian company, Wide Open Agriculture (WOA), has seen strong positive feedback from individual customers and restaurant clients across the state.

Today it announced one of its biggest leaps yet: going global with a meat export licence for the Southeast Asian market.

“Western Australia’s leading chefs and online consumers have validated our position as a premium, healthy food brand,” WOA Managing Director Dr Ben Cole said.

“We are excited by the opportunity to offer our innovative brand and exceptional grass-fed beef and lamb to Southeast Asian markets,” he added.

Conscious produce

According to Meat and Livestock Australia, Aussie beef sales to Southeast Asia reached $850 million and lamb achieved $330 million during last year.

“We have recently engaged in a number of meetings and farm visits with online and retail distributors with sales channels in Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and China,” Dr Ben continued.

“With this licence we are now armed to progress these discussions to the next stage of business development.”

It’s no secret that regenerative agriculture speaks to a conscious minded demographic seeking sustainable meat produce. From 20 hospitality clients alone, the company amassed $40,000 in sales revenue earlier this year.

“Our objective is to be the brand of choice for conscious consumers in Australian and Asian markets,” Dr Ben added.

“Conscious consumers demand amazing taste and quality but also the provenance of regeneratively farmed products.”

For those interested in the cleaner alternative farming for dinner can also order it straight to their home. Wide Open launched its “Dirty Clean Food” platform in August to sell the grass-fed beef and lamb to your doorstep.

The company even expanded its business into a hemp crop trial in rural WA earlier this month. This trial is part of a statewide initiative by the Western Australian Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development.

Since announcing the major export licence win today, shares in Wide Open have rocketed 16.7 per cent on the Australian market to trade for 17.5 cents each.

WOA by the numbers
More From The Market Online

Vysarn launches water trading arm led by ex-JP Morgan exec

Mine dewatering and water engineering solutions player Vysarn (ASX:VYS) has today announced the creation of a…

A look at Australian agriculture: June 2023

Gross Australian agricultural production is expected to decline in the coming years as the last three…

Farms in Fair Work spotlight as fines for compliance breaches exceed $170,000 nationally

The agriculture sector is yet again under the Fair Work Ombudsman's (FWO) spotlight as fines for…

Australian Government kicks off $1.4m biosecurity project to combat FMD and LSD in Indonesia

Indonesia is set to receive a much-need helping hand in its fight against foot-and-mouth disease (FMD)…