Growers to tour Asian mills

Nine WA growers have embarked on a CBH grower study tour of Japan, China and Vietnam.

The group departed from Perth on Friday for a 16-day trip taking in flour and seed mills, noodle making facilities, grain facilities and a brewery.

During the tour, delegates will have the opportunity to take part in several customer meetings, port tours and a bakery education tour in Vietnam.

Growers will visit Japan to gain insight into the ancient Japanese udon noodle-making industry and visit feed and malting barley facilities.

They will meet key customers in Tokyo to learn how their WA products are marketed and have open conversations about future trends in the market.

Japan is CBH's longest standing customer and is still its most consistent buyer, so the visit acknowledges the commitment Japanese customers have made in supporting WA and CBH's commitment to providing high-quality grain into the Japanese market.

China is quickly moving towards a predominantly urbanised population with less grain produced domestically and consumers demanding a higher protein diet. With this in mind it is clear to see why an unprecedented amount of quality WA grain was shipped into the Chinese market in recent years.

The tour will conclude on March 15 in the rapidly growing wheat market of Vietnam, where Australian wheat makes up about 80 per cent of the country's imports.

Over the next five years, Vietnamese consumption is expected to reach 2.5 million metric tonnes per year, making Vietnam a key focus for WA growers into the future.

The group will take a behind the scenes look at the CBH Interflour mills in Ho Chi Minh City and visit CaiMep Port terminal.

Kondinin farmer Natalie Browning said she was looking forward to travelling as part of the delegation to get a deeper insight into their grain industry.

"There's a lot of talk in the media about the potential opportunities in Asia for our industry, from a grain perspective," she said.