New peak body to set agenda for native foods

By Anna Vidot, ABC 

Thursday, 15/11/2007

The peak body for Australia's native food industry will hold its first annual general meeting today in Lismore in New South Wales.

Australian Native Food Industry Limited was formed last December, after previous attempts to establish a national body were unsuccessful.

Attending the meeting will be Tasmanian pepperberry producer Chris Read, who says a peak body will provide a united approach for the industry on food regulation and research priorities, which will allow bushfoods producers to take advantage of a growing domestic and export market.

The food service industry has helped to move pepperberry towards the mainstream, but Chris Read wants to see more Australians using native foods at home.

"I'm keen for people to see the pepperberry as a sort of an alternative to the normal pepper, to get themselves a second pepper grinder on the shelf and to put that on the table and, you know, just use that pepper instead of the other one sometimes."

In this report: Chris Read, pepperberry producer from Birchs Bay in southern Tasmania.

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