What a year! As the lychee industry’s Relationship Manager at Hort Innovation, I’m pleased to be able to share with you all of the insights on your levy in the Lychee Fund Annual Report for 2016/17.
The 2016/17 financial year was a busy one, with Hort Innovation continuing to invest the lychee levy and Australian Government contributions into initiatives to help growers be as productive and profitable as possible.
During the period, more than $83,000 was invested into R&D for the lychee industry. From new and ongoing work to develop exports to the United States, to efforts to secure access to chemicals vital for the industry, you can see the full list of projects for 2016/17 on page 5 of the attached report.
You can then read more, including what the projects mean for you, in the R&D report from page 7.
In marketing, Hort Innovation invested more than $43,000 during 2016/17 into a marketing program with a strong focus on engaging and educating Australian consumers through social media platforms, and harnessing the power of social media ‘influencers’. Read all about this on page 8. (And for 2017/18, I’m excited to be taking on the role of the industry’s Marketing Manager alongside my duties as Relationship Manager, to help spread the Love from Lychees messaging.)
As the Relationship Manager for the lychee industry, it’s my job to form one of the bridges between strategic levy investments and you – the growers and other lychee stakeholders. That’s why it was great getting to talk to you throughout the year about everything going on in the Hort Innovation Lychee Fund – and of course to hear directly from you – out and about, and via phone and email.
During the year there was also a chance for many of us to talk one-on-one as part of consultation around the Lychee Strategic Investment Plan (SIP). The final SIP was released in April 2017, and will serve as a guiding document for the industry’s Strategic Investment Advisory Panel (SIAP) when providing advice to Hort Innovation on future investments in the Lychee Fund. Find a quick overview on page 3.
If you have an idea for a project you think aligns well with the SIP, I encourage you to submit it to Hort Innovation through the online form at www.bit.ly/2eTpOxA. You can also learn more about how the collection of ideas works in the video available at www.bit.ly/2hTROUQ. Here’s to another great year of investments and connection in 2017/18.
Astrid Hughes
Lychee Relationship Manager, Hort Innovation