Regenerative food company Wide Open Agriculture (WOA) has secured its first international distributor. In an exclusive two-year agreement with GrowHub International, WOA’s regenerative food brand Dirty Clean Food’s OatUp oat milk will be distributed in Singapore.
In June, the company had announced it will develop an in-house lupin and protein manufacturing facility near its Dirty Clean Food operations with an aim to developed “unmatched global capacity”.
The agreement comes after OatUp received positive feedback for taste and carbon neutral credentials in an extensive sampling program. As a minimum order quantity GrowHub will purchase approximately $500,000 worth of OatUp within the first year and follow up with extra supply if demand exceeds initial quantities.
Dirty Clean Food CEO Jay Albany said geographically Singapore provides the ideal foothold into the South-East Asian market.
“Combined, the oat milk market in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Hong Kong is valued at an estimated $56 million in 2021, and these are the territories we aim to focus on.
“Australian products have a strong reputation throughout the region and OatUp’s carbon neutral credentials will provide consumers with a product that allows them to step up for their planet,” said Albany.
The initial order will serve as foundational stock levels to help GrowHub fulfil orders in its network of big box retailers, food services companies, online retailers, and speciality stores. This will be followed by sales staff training within GrowHub and a marketing campaign to increase OatUp’s presence in Singapore.
An expanding market
With the global plant-based milk market expected to reach $29.5 billion by 2024, growing at a CAGR of 10 per cent across 2020-24, WOA is confident its OatUps are positioned to perform well in the category.
WOA believes OatUp’s regenerative and carbon neutral certifications will demonstrate the company’s consumer base making a shift towards ethical food and beverages, serving as a point of difference for South-East Asian consumers.
After securing a consumer base,new flavours and ready-to-drink formats will be launched to appeal to the broader market.
The company is currently developing a protein enriched version of OatUp, to compete with soy, almond and dairy milks, which have a higher protein content
Synergy is key
GrowHub CEO Lester Chan said it was pleased to partner with WOA.
“After positive feedback from our initial orders, we believe Dirty Clean Food’s oat milk has the taste profile to be a leading product in Singapore,” said Chan.
GrowHub is a strategic partner in the Agri-Innovation Precinct, part of the Western Australian Food Innovation Precinct (WAFIP), which is designed to develop and research innovative technologies within the food and agriculture sector. WOA is based in Western Australia.
A plan to investigate other synergies across the agricultural supply chain and potentially exporting other products is also underway between WOA and GrowHub.
