Australia's food manufacturing industry worries rising costs will push supermarkets to use more imports

Australia's food manufacturing industry is concerned that as costs keep rising, more and more imported goods will appear on supermarket shelves.There are calls for more federal government help for the industry to protect local businesses and jobs.But when it comes to processed foods — such as canned fruits, sauces or packets of chocolate, cereal and chips — you may find more and more of them being imported.

"It's been led by things such as increased process around energy, increased complexity in the regulatory environment, a lack of incentive to make new investments.""What we know from history is that when businesses choose to go offshore, they don't come back," Mr O'Brien said. "I think the important focus has to be on the actions you take to reduce them, not the reporting," Mr O'Brien said.Simon Wise runs a sauce and jam-manufacturing company in Tasmania."It protects a lot of things. It protects jobs, it protects the farmers," Mr Wise said."A couple of years ago we were probably two-and-a-half full-time team members. The next financial year probably looking at closer to six.

The Australian Food and Grocery Council says the profitability of food and beverage manufacturing in Australia is on a downward trend.More than 275,000 people in employed in Australia's food and grocery manufacturing sector, the Food and Grocery Council says.Professor Stanley said that reflected Australia's decreasing international competitiveness, as "countries who have invested more in their food manufacturing than Australia bring in cheaper product".

Australia's food and grocery manufacturing sector employs more than 275,000 people, the council says.But it fears if nothing is done, imports of food will continue to rise to the point where consumers will struggle to find high value-added products that are made in Australia."Imported product is susceptible to all of those global price shocks … the cost of shipping in those items can go up significantly," she said.

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