meet the buyer FEATURE

Image

MEET

the Buyer

The ballroom at Crown Perth has never looked and smelled so good thanks to WA’s leading food and beverage brands coming together for the annual ‘Meet the Buyer’ trade show exhibition.

Words Melissa Worthington, Program Manager, Buy West Eat Best

Image

The Crown Ballroom brought together 580 busines.

PRESENTED by the WA Government’s Buy West Eat Best (BWEB) program, the premier industry trade event brought together over 580 businesses to engage with 85-plus WA food and beverage companies showcasing more than 550 products in one room, for one extraordinary day.

The trade show attracted local delegates as well as representatives from Victoria and Queensland and as far away as India and Norway.

Seeds have been sown for future business growth at what was the fourth annual trade show welcoming back several past exhibitors displaying new products and advanced packaging, with one company manning its own display having previously shared a space with its distributor.

Several Mid West businesses attended the event following engagement with the BWEB team at Geraldton’s Shore Leave partnership activation earlier in the year. The Wheatbelt, Gascoyne, Great Southern, South West, Southern Forests, Swan Valley and Perth Hills regions and Perth metropolitan featured, providing a genuine statewide networking experience for all attendees.

Image

The BWEB team of Jessica Schubert, Tara Cooke, Melissa Worthington, Elan Coleman, Chelsea Sutton and Brigitte Jarvie at Meet the Buyer 2024.

Decision makers and buyers from national supermarket chains Woolworths, IGA, Aldi and Coles plus independent retailers, speciality and convenience stores, national hotel chains, local chefs, importers, distributors, educators and aged care delegates attended to engage with exhibitor businesses featured in the ‘Meet the Buyer’ Buyers Guide and network.

Prendiville Group’s director of food, Russell Blaikie said ‘Meet the Buyer’ is the perfect one-stop-shop for chefs.

Image

Glavocich Produce showcased their products at the event.

“I’m already thinking about how to use the freeze-dried bananas from Carnarvon Sweeter Bananas in a new dessert, and also a chilli jam that would be great with a cheese board, the freshly grown native herbs, and the Mushroom Guys, seeing all their products in one spot was really good, and I found my new favourite salami, the Toscano Salami from Mondo’s, and the list goes on.”

Holly Brindle from The Good Grocer said it was her first time at ‘Meet the Buyer’ and applauded Buy West Eat Best for the initiative.

“To have an event of this quality attracts so many producers, and retailers get behind it, it’s great,” Ms Brindle said.

“I’m super impressed with the range from the bigger brands like Catalano, Amelia Park and Linley Valley Pork, and compare that with some small artisan producers we weren’t aware of, as well as see some industry friends and catch up, it’s been great.”

Ms Brindle said she’s confident she’s found some new local products to stock in The Good Grocer stores at ‘Meet the Buyer’.

Coles Business Category Manager for Deli and Seafood Michael Fahd travelled from Melbourne to attend ‘Meet the Buyer’.

“It’s amazing to be here, so many passionate suppliers and see them exhibit their incredible products,” Mr Fahd said.

“Without these shows, suppliers might struggle to reach out to bigger corporations, we know that there aren’t that many supermarket chains in Australia, and these events are really important and critical for suppliers to showcase their products to retailers like Coles.

Mr Fahd said following the event the Coles team is visiting WA suppliers including Catalano’s Seafood, Brownes Cheese, and Fremantle Octopus, with a view to expanding their product range into supermarkets nationally.

The Western Australian economy is currently supported by over 1,500 food and beverage businesses, employing about 20,000 people and turning over $8.5 billion in revenue per year.

BWEB Program Manager Melissa Worthington said this year had been the most successful yet for Meet the Buyer and was testament to the team’s hard work as the trade show was delivered concurrently to the program’s day-to-day operations.

The event is the most significant business engagement opportunity on the calendar for the Agribusiness, Food and Trade directorate. The day presents a forum to discuss the range of DPIRD’s schemes of assistance and services that address business priorities, gaps and constraints for the food and beverage sector, while discussing identified growth opportunities.

“The growth of Meet the Buyer has been driven by the state’s agrifood business community and it’s always gratifying to hear the positive outcomes for suppliers and buyers,” Melissa said.

“The diversity of outcomes extends beyond commercial transactions, including capability building, connections, supply chain relations, collaborations and conversations.

“It’s WA’s only dedicated food and beverage trade show and it’s the only event of its kind that brings together buyers, importers, chefs, sommeliers, media and educators under one roof, for one day.

“It was fantastic to facilitate supplier interactions with diverse buyers and witness business discussions between exhibitors that can potentially benefit both companies.”

The BWEB team has already received 19 exhibitor expressions of interest for the next Meet the Buyer trade show which is scheduled for Tuesday 21 October 2025.


MORE INFORMATION

Buy West Eat Best is a voluntary food and beverage labelling and marketing initiative developed by the Western Australian Government to assist local businesses promote their products to consumers whether they be grocery shoppers or those that dine out.
www.meetthebuyer.com.au
www.buywesteatbest.org.au

Image