Ongoing disruption caused by COVID, fruit fly, hailstorms and reduced access to labour continued to challenge the horticultural industry in 2021, testing our resilience once again.
Consumer confidence has remained high throughout the pandemic and created an opportunity in the local market where conscious decisions to buy and support local have occurred.
The industry continued to support those facing food insecurities, playing a large role in supplying fresh produce to Foodbank SA with a record 2.2 million kilograms of produce donated in the 2020-21 financial year.
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The donation represents 40 per cent of the total food distributed to the SA community in need.
Looking ahead, the Horticultural Coalition of SA remains optimistic, releasing its Blueprint in November 2021 with a growth target to reach $5 billion in gross revenue by 2030, having steadily grown from $3.2b in 2019 to $3.5b in 2020.
The blueprint highlights areas of opportunity for government to support the horticultural industry to achieve its growth target, and we look forward to working closely with them in 2022.
By focusing on the important pillars of biosecurity, water security, labour shortages, workforce development and business sustainability, the horticultural industry will remain on a continued growth trajectory.
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