"AU: Digital market "Phoenicia" aims to create greater transparency in supply chain"

Creators of digital marketplace Phoenicia says its online platform provides a vital link in the long-term sustainability of the Australian horticulture industry.

Developed by fourth generation fruiterers, Anthony and Paul Joseph, from one of Australia's leading fresh produce suppliers, Alfred E Chave, Phoenicia provides unprecedented transparency with access to live sales and market data together with real time visibility of supply and demand, connecting growers, merchants and buyers.

Anthony says it was launched to industry at Hort Connections in June, but they’ve been trading through the platform since December.

“For our local industry to prosper, we need to start operating more efficiently, harnessing the power of technology to drive operating efficiencies and reduce unnecessary waste," he said. "With supply chains shortening and there being such disconnect in supply and demand in the fresh produce sector, we saw an opportunity to leverage available technology to bring a new level of transparency and efficiency to the horticulture supply chain that will benefit all supply chain stakeholders. To improve the long-term sustainability and meet the forecast global growth over the next 20 to 30 years we need to start working smarter and eliminating unnecessary waste generated by opaque supply chains."

The platform is comprised of three user profiles; grower, merchant or agent, and buyer and has been designed to enhance the existing supply chain and better connect growers to their customers. Anthony says it is the way of the future for the fresh produce industry.

Through Phoenicia, growers have real time visibility of the wholesale price of their produce and can receive timely demand signals to efficiently and effectively plan production and schedule activities such as planting and harvest. For buyers, it means they will now have a better understanding of available supply and pricing to make more informed decisions faster. All trades are overseen by a merchant who is responsible for quality control, distribution, consolidation, cold storage, warehousing and financial settlement. Mr Joseph says Phoenicia has aligned its functionality with the requirements of the newly introduced Horticulture Code of Conduct, as well as many other efficiency benefits for growers.

"By harnessing the power of available technology, we’ve designed Phoenicia to be easily adopted by all industry stakeholders to help conduct meaningful business and provide a sustainable pathway into the future," Mr Joseph said. "We’ve had a significant amount of interest from industry and I believe that Phoenicia is a logical step to guide the evolution of our industry. We are very much proud to be a part of it."

Phoenicia also helps address the issue of waste, according to Mr Joseph, not only in terms of the produce, but other waste that is currently difficult to measure, such as time and motion, as well as reducing duplication of multiple people or businesses performing the same tasks such as validation of processes along the supply chain. He also referred to reports from the Centre for Global Enterprise that suggest digital supply chains have the potential to drive a 20 per cent reduction in procurement expenses, halve supply chain costs and increase revenue by 10 per cent.

Development is already underway to introduce advanced features including enhanced export functionality along with seasonal forecasting allowing growers and buyers to collaborate on long-term supply planning.

Phoenicia invites growers, merchants and buyers to start trading on Phoenicia.

For more information:

Anthony Joseph

Alfred E Chave

Phone: 1300 017 57 (within Australia)