Insights From the Forestry Value Chain's Move Into High-Value Products

It seems that all industrialised sectors grounded in natural biological raw materials go through the same cycle of commencing with low-value-added products. As scientific and technical knowledge develops, this opens the pathway towards higher value-added activities, which is taken by some part of the existing firms in the sector and also by other firms outside the original sector. There may be insights to be had for an industry like the macroalgae industry that is in the early phases of this development by looking at insights from an industry that is in later phases having gone through many cycles. This chapter aims to very briefly make some illustrations from the development in the forestry-based sector that might carry some insights for the emerging macroalgae sector.

Basis for Competitive Advantage in the Different Application Domains

A competitive advantage can be defined as a condition or circumstance that puts a company in a favorable or superior business position as compared to its competitors. Competitive advantages can be treated within the firm or grounded in an advantage existing in the firm's operating environment. In looking at South Australia's competitive advantage as it relates to the macroalgae value chain, we can see that it has a reputation of unpolluted costal land and waters that is ideal for the cultivation of marine macroalgae. This chapter explores that competitive advantage.

Understanding the Macroalgal Value Chain

The macroalgae value chain is similar to other plant-based production chains in that they go through the same chain of production, grow-out, harvesting, processing, utilization, and ultimately disposal. Extraction is a process specific only to the end product and can include the extraction of polysaccharides including hydrocolloids. The extraction process also contains other high-value specialty chemicals for use as additives in food and cosmetic products. This chapter explores the macroalgal value chain.

Understanding Luxury Food for the Asian Markets Through an Intellectual Capital Lens

When entering the food segment with new or existing products, it is essential to avoid commoditization and cost-based competition. This becomes especially important for a new player like the South Australian macroalgae-based food products and food ingredients industry. The extreme top end of these industries in terms on non-price-based competition is the luxury products industry and for Australia the key export market is China. This chapter provides an insight into the luxury food products industry for export to China.

Absolute and Comparative Advantages of South Australia in the Macroalgal Value Chain

A jurisdiction is said to have a comparative advantage in the production of a good if it can produce this good at a lower opportunity cost than another. It can be said that a jurisdiction has an absolute advantage in the production of a good if it has a higher productivity in its production of this good than another jurisdiction. Although there are no studies on comparative advantages in macroalgae value chains, there are some relating to aquaculture in general. From these two studies we can look at the domestic resource cost (DRC) approach and the revealed comparative advantage (RCA) approach. This chapter explores the absolute and comparative advantages of South Australia in the macroalgal value chain.

Action Plan for the Development of a South Australian Seaweed Industry

The fundamental challenge in developing a South Australian macroalgae industry sector is that in Australia almost every funding mechanisms that would typically provide support for the under-pinning research and development (e.g., ARC linkage grants, Cooperative Research Centre grants, AusIndustry grants, etc.) rely on existing industry participants to invest. The plan outlined in this chapter is expected to break this nexus. The plan will be resourced through a funding bid to the state government, with the funds then being deployed against the respective project components with additional leverage on funding from cognate agencies, institutions, and granting bodies. It is expected that the work that underpins this book will also trigger a CRC bid.

Conclusions for South Australia From the Analysis

South Australia has comparative advantages in the early stages of the macroalgal value chain. This provides a foundation for building a macroalgal aquaculture and high-value products processing industry. To make this happen, there needs to be a coordinated effort between stakeholders to further the sustainable development of the South Australian bio-economy based on the cultivation of macroalgae biomass. This chapter explores this conclusion.

Macroalgal Value Chain

The economic potentional for the algae industry is seemingly limitless. The range of products that are obtained from macroalgae and that we use in our daily lives suggests that, at least in the developed world, we cannot live through a single day without using something that at least contains some macroalgal-derived constituents or something that has required the use of macroalgal products in its manufacturing process. With applications as diverse as food for human consumption (e.g., the wrap on a sashimi roll), as a food additive (e.g., to improve mouthfeel in yogurt), in cosmetics (facial scrubs and soaps) through to screen printing (materials for shirts, skirts, and bed sheets) and even in the production of welding rods that have been used in assembling the steel frames of household furniture (to ensure an even burn and smooth join) the uses are limitless. This chapter explores these uses.