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 hits the road
MacTavish West, with support from VegPro and Hort Innovation will be taking the popular VegInnovation workshops on the road to six Australian regions to help people involved in the Australian vegetable industry develop value-added vegetable products that catch and keep consumer interest. They are being held throughout June, July and August 2018 in the following regions. Please click the relevant event to get further information or to book your place.
Tasmania, Elizabeth Town, 7th June
Western Australia, Perth, 10th July
Queensland, Lockyer Valley, 25th July
South Australia, Adelaide, 9th August
News: VegDoctor is 2017 Churchill Fellow
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. She will focus on opportunities relevant to Australian fruit and vegetable producers, especially around value-adding and utilisation of more of the crop.
The Study Tour: To assist with focusing structured interviews and discussions, and also for the purposes of reporting, Hazel has produced a list of key questions/topics for discussion with European researchers and consultants, retailers, food manufacturers and primary producers.
- Increasing the value proposition for vegetables: opportunities, barriers, examples, success stories.
- Increasing consumption of fruit and vegetables: converting government plans into effective actions.
- Shelf-life of processed fruit and vegetables: issues relating to extending this (i.e. reducing oxidation), and relating to reducing this (i.e. distribution logistics).
- Factory design to deliver complex multi-layered convenient foods: management of allergens, shelf-life etc.
- The future for packaging: what’s on the horizon to reduce, re-use and replace single use plastics.
- Globalisation – the opportunities for European and Australian businesses to collaborate.
- Processing: equipment and techniques for the future – what’s ticking all the boxes…?
- Utilisation of more of the crop – new products, processes and approaches to this.
The Outcomes: Key specific insights will be shared with the Australian food industry, contributing towards new food products for local and export markets. The overall aim is to enhance national efforts to increase usage and consumption of Australian-grown fruit and vegetables. Hazel will present at national events (www.hortconnections.com.au), workshops (www.veginnovations.com.au 2018 roadshow) and more local ‘foodie’ events.
*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.