Growth opportunities for Canadian agri-food in the ASEAN market

Dec 18, 2024

As Canada looks to further diversify export markets and reduce the marketing risk that comes from an overreliance on the U.S., Asia looms large. China and India are Asian markets that have not been fully tapped yet but ongoing geopolitical tensions are making it difficult to develop more significant trade relations. Another option for Canadian exporters is Southeast Asia, a key area within the larger Indo-Pacific region. Canada’s exports there have grown across the three major categories of agriculture, food and fertiliser, but there’s even more growth that’s possible.

In this post, we identify some food products and ag commodities highlighted in recent research that are currently not reaching their export potential.

The ASEAN market is one of the world’s largest

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is a regional intergovernmental organization with 10 member states: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

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Video: Designing a Robotic Berry Picker

Since blackberries must be harvested by hand, the process is time-consuming and labor-intensive. To support a growing blackberry industry in Arkansas, food science associate professor Renee Threlfall is collaborating with mechanical engineering assistant professor Anthony Gunderman to develop a mechanical harvesting system. Most recently, the team designed a device to measure the force needed to pick a blackberry without damaging it. The data from this device will help inform the next stage of development and move the team closer to the goal of a fully autonomous robotic berry picker. The device was developed by Gunderman, with Yue Chen, a former U of A professor now at Georgia Tech, and Jeremy Collins, then a U of A undergraduate engineering student. To determine the force needed to pick blackberries without damage, the engineers worked with Threlfall and Andrea Myers, then a graduate student.