Enabling Agri-Food Innovation
MacTavish West will help you get to the next level.
We’ll aim to understand your agri-food business objectives, share our knowledge and experience and help you identify and develop appropriate opportunities.
Let’s have a chat and see where to, from here.
here's some examples:
Dr Hazel MacTavish-West
VegDoctor, 2017 Churchill Fellow, Food Product Creator, Entrepreneur, Communicator.
Qualifications: BscAgric (Hons, Syd), PhD (Tas).
Hazel is an independent consultant with 25+ years’ experience in plant and food science, natural flavours and fragrances, colours and bioactives. In Australia, Hazel works with primary producers, food manufacturers, retailers and consumers, to create tasty, practical and on-trend new food products. A key focus is greater use of fruit and vegetables as healthy and functional ingredients in a diverse range of food products. Hazel provides food innovation training to the Australian food industry, especially the vegetable sector and regional agri-food producers. Hazel has been awarded a Churchill Fellowship for a study tour of Europe in early/mid 2018 to investigate the opportunities to incorporate more fruit and vegetables into value-added, convenient, healthy foods.
Darren West
Electronics and Software Designer, Technology Evangelist, Entrepreneur.
Qualifications: BSc(Hons) MPhil(Cantab) CEng MIET MIEAust CPEng FRSA
Experience: Darren is an electronic engineer, scientist and business entrepreneur with key skills in design and prototyping of complex audio visual and computer hardware. Electronic, software, or FPGA contract design services.
Key clients include Microsoft and Pixel Power. With a keen interest in sustainable engineering and a creative mind which knows no bounds.
We team up with global experts as needed, to deliver a lean, agile solution for your business.
We create new food and drink products, including alcoholic beverages such as cider, and gin. We keep up to speed with food trends both local and global: consumer behaviour, retail and marketing trends, value-adding and packaging innovations, science and technology.
We can help you identify and develop a strategy to grow your agri-business in the right direction by providing you with the most appropriate and timely decision-making tools.
Whether it’s using your resources more efficiently, or identifying and developing appropriate innovations to take your business to the next level: we combine our business nous with scientific, technical and engineering expertise and unique, real-world experience to make a real difference to your business.
The World is a complicated place, and technology is constantly evolving. We can help you navigate this landscape to identify and utilise the best and most appropriate technology solutions for your business.
We can help turn ‘Big Data’ into decision-making information, and develop tailor-made solutions to fit your needs.
What our clients are saying about us.
News: #VegInnovations2018 finishes for another year
The VegInnovations2018 Regional Roadshow (supported by Hort Innovation using the vegetable research and development levy and funds from the Australian Government) is now complete (check out www.veginnovations.com.au for more info). This includes a fabulous all-new “How-To Innovate with Vegetables” Guide – downloadable from that website.
The 6 workshops (Tas, Adelaide, Perth, Gatton, Victoria x 2) were presented by Hazel MacTavish-West and Susie White, and well attended by growers and the wider vegetable industry. We had some fabulous local speakers at each event too, ranging from a teenage egg marketer to a lupin flour producer and a flavoured crunchy cheese maker.
If the feedback is to be believed, there was a 26% increase in knowledge and understanding of the opportunities and requirements to add value to whole, fresh vegetables, potentially increasing the confidence of growers to venture into this space. This could potentially increase usage and consumption of Australian-grown vegetables. Specific feedback:
- This day is the creative business reboot workshop that every farmer and food industry professional needs to attend, in order to understand the achievable solutions to the farm and fresh produce issues you don’t know you actually have.
- Workshop was very informative and valuable. Very impressed by examples and experience shared by Hazel from overseas!
- This event is a must for all members of the vegetable supply chain.
- This was a great chance to meet with other industry members and learn more about creative and positive thinking.
- Exceptionally insightful, useful and interesting.
- A great day to not only talk about new ideas in the value add sector but to learn the techniques to best implement them.
- A sensational summary of global insights and tools for product development that provides actions to take away.
- Well done VegInnovation- Great initiative, I’ll be back!!
- The energy from the presenters and in the room was fantastic.
- Hazel and Susie are knowledgeable and enthusiastic, you can’t help but feel energised about Veginnovations.
- Great information with real examples and lots of interactive elements and great presentation. I learnt so much.
- I’ve been to a VegInnovations workshop before and the new information and format of this event was even better.
- Excellent blend of theory, practical exercises and case studies provided for a useful and highly informative workshop. Presenters highly knowledgeable and lively delivery of information.
- The session provided value affirmation that our strategy and objectives for new export markets is focused and sustainable.
- If you have an idea and don’t know how to make it happen come along to this workshop to learn how to get it done.
- Great presentations with a huge amount of information given in a fun and interesting way.
- Highly motivational, informative and practical content. I’m bloody excited!
- Great day with heaps of ideas and possibilities. Thanks for information sharing.
If you are interested in hosting a similar event in your area, or on a wider topic (not just vegetables), get in touch.
Thanks to VegNet and Hort Innovation for all their assistance.
News: VegDoctor is 2017 Churchill Fellow
Hazel completed a Churchill Fellowship* including a study tour of Europe in early/mid 2018 to investigate the opportunities to incorporate more fruit and vegetables into value-added, convenient, healthy foods. She focused on opportunities relevant to Australian fruit and vegetable producers, especially around value-adding and utilisation of more of the crop.
You can download her report by clicking here (downloadable pdf).
*A Churchill Fellowship is an opportunity for Australian Citizens to travel overseas in search of new ideas, innovation and excellence, to enable the exchange of knowledge, technology and experience for the benefit of Australian Society www.churchilltrust.com.au
Find Us
MacTavish West Pty Ltd.
445C Macquarie Street,
South Hobart,
Tasmania 7004,
Australia.
ABN 45325280216
ACN 145460877
We are in the two-way section of Macquarie Street, on the right hand side as you head towards the mountain (if you get to ‘The Lost Sock’ Laundrette you have gone too far). No. 445 houses a balloon shop at the front, and we are in a ground floor unit, behind. Drive down the ‘SAMCO’ driveway and veer left, there will be parking just outside our unit if we know you are coming.