Kangaroo Island Oats participate in the National Trade Program

A Kangaroo Island oats company is amongst 15 South Australian companies to participate in the first round of a $1.13 million National Trade Program, to be delivered over four years.

Photo: KI Rolled and Quick Oats
 

Founded by two master mariners, Kangaroo Island Oats was born out of a desire to grow and sell the best possible oats.

 

“We started with our first plantings and harvest in 2018 with products reaching the shelves in May 2019,” said Steve Morgan, Director, co-founder and farmer at Kangaroo Island Oats. “We only grow the 'Kowari' variety of oats, specifically developed for their high beta glucan content. This assists in lowering cholesterol.  

“All of our oats are grown on Kangaroo Island and we are widely available throughout South Australia in over 100 independent supermarkets, fruit and veg stores, cafes and hotels and we also have a growing number of accommodation houses using us.

“We applied to participate in the National Trade Program to utilise it as a foundational steppingstone to reaching the eastern seaboard and then export markets. We would like to reach a specific consumer and really want to do it in the correct, sustainable way and see the National Trade Program as the right vehicle to assist us with advice and knowledge going forward.”

The National Trade Program provides training, access to industry mentors and offers direct connections to interstate buyers and distributers to help company participants secure interstate sales. The Department for Trade and Investment is sponsoring all participation costs, with companies covering the costs of shipping samples interstate and any travel costs.

 

The program includes export training modules delivered online by the Export Council of Australia; ongoing one-to-one mentoring with industry specific experts; excellent platform to test products for market acceptance; raise the profile of a company domestically and increase sales and provide opportunities to pitch to new buyer networks and channels.

 

“The program will give us access to great mentors with extensive knowledge of the domestic and export markets,” continued Steve. “It will assist us in learning about marketing ourselves and our business better while exposing areas where we have insufficient skills or capabilities. I believe we will finish the program as a more 'rounded', 'complete' business with markets being opened up in a sustainable manner.”

Kangaroo Island Oats aim to export to Asian markets, particularly Japan and Singapore.

“We feel these are the ‘best fit’ for our product and the customer we are aiming for, in relation to socio-demographics, understanding and acceptance of our products.

“I’d like to say a big thank you for offering the program and for accepting us into the program. We are enjoying it so far and are really looking forward to its continuation over the coming months.”

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