Prepared by Shirley Islam, Senior Business Consultant, Consumer Packaged Goods & Retail Industry, Dassault Systèmes, Brisbane, Australia
Turning disruption into opportunity: Building a smarter, stronger, and more connected meat supply chain.
As global food demand surges with a rapidly growing population, the pressure on meat manufacturers to scale production and remain competitive has never been greater. For Australia—home to one of the world’s most respected red meat industries—this is both an opportunity and a challenge.
Australia is the second-largest beef exporter globally, and red meat is one of the country’s most valuable agricultural exports. The numbers speak for themselves:
- 12% increase in beef production forecast by the end of 2025.
- 2.24 million tonnes of red meat exported to 104 countries in 2024.
- AUD 14 billion in export value, driven by demand from the U.S., Japan, and South Korea.
This growth underscores Australia’s reputation for premium, sustainably sourced meat and the country’s ability to anchor global food security. But with growth comes mounting challenges.
Supply Chain Pressures: A Perfect Storm
Despite strong performance, the industry is navigating headwinds that could affect stability and profitability.
1. Shifting Global Trade Policies
- Recent U.S. biosecurity changes now allow beef from cattle raised in Mexico and Canada—but processed in the U.S.—to be sold domestically and into markets where Australia has traditionally been strong.
- While this strengthens U.S. supply chains, it introduces fresh competition for Australian exporters who are already competing on razor-thin margins.
2. Tariffs and Market Diversification Challenges
- On top of this, tariffs are reshaping market dynamics. The introduction of a 10% U.S. tariff on Australian beef in April 2025 placed pressure on a $3.3 billion export stream, causing immediate price adjustments and leaving importers—and ultimately processors—absorbing higher costs.
- Meanwhile, looming safeguard tariffs in China, Australia’s largest beef export market, threaten to trigger if export volumes continue to rise, creating uncertainty around both pricing and long-term demand stability.
3. Pivoting Towards New Markets
- Europe is proving attractive, where consumer demand for hormone-free, high-welfare beef continues to rise and buyers are willing to pay a premium for quality.
- Similarly, the Middle East offers strong opportunities through the growing demand for halal-certified products—a segment where Australia has both the credibility and supply capability to lead.
- Closer to home, South-East Asia’s appetite for premium protein is accelerating, fuelled by population growth, rising incomes, and changing dietary preferences. These markets represent not only new revenue streams but also a chance to diversify risk and reduce reliance on a handful of major export partners.
The Path Forward: Digital Supply Chain Transformation
Australia’s meat industry stands at a crossroads. Traditional approaches alone will not be enough to withstand trade shocks, tariffs, and shifting consumer demand. To thrive, processors must turn disruption into opportunity.
One key to this lies in strategic planning within the meat supply chain and navigating a complex web of challenges. From production, disassembly, processing and blending, to distribution and consumption, each step in the meat and animal protein supply chain poses unique planning challenges that demand strategic solutions.
Our digital solutions are proving critical for:
- Boosting operational efficiency by up to 10%.
- Reducing waste, improving forecasting accuracy, and streamlining disassembly/assembly planning.
- Enabling scenario modelling to test the impact of tariffs, market shifts, or sudden supply shortages.
- Creating end-to-end transparency across the value chain to build resilience.
Our eBook, “The Fully Connected Meat Supply Chain”, delves into the importance of an integrated approach, showcasing how leveraging key technology and end-to-end strategies can help overcome these obstacles and unlock greater value.
Deliver end-to-end efficiency
Since many companies still operate in functional silos of people and information, it is difficult to make informed decisions that successfully support broad organizational goals. Lack of collaboration is holding back meat processors from fulfilling their production potential and maximizing their profitability. A fully connected supply chain delivers efficiency end to end, and provides planners the decision-making support they need to help the company realize its business goals.
Developing optimal plans efficiently is essential to providing agility and resiliency to address disruption and maintain cost-effective operations that maintain customer service and quality.
We need to examine many connected processes in order to improve efficiency, boost productivity and reduce wastage. These vary greatly in terms of scope from strategic Sales & Operations Planning software, Master Production Scheduling software, Detailed Scheduling and Production Execution. Since the protein industry is low-margin and high-volume, mistakes can happen quickly and be expensive. Therefore, we need to orchestrate each of these processes to propagate real-time updates between various levels of decision-making and align stakeholders.
To create plans for each process in the supply chain, planning teams need data such as demand forecasts, raw material supply, processing capacity, freezer space availability and stock outflow. Lack of information results in poor plans that cause bottlenecks in processing, warehousing and shelf-life planning. Planning using one system brings demand, supply and inventory planning onto a single platform, which offers visibility across your supply chain. In this way, planners will have the answers to questions such as:
– What to produce to fulfill SLAs?
– How much to keep?
– How much buffer to produce for?
Only the integration of DELMIA’s planning solution with Manufacturing Operations Management (MOM) software gives your team access to information and visibility of your company’s entire global operations and lets you harness real-time insights for yield optimization.
Boost productivity in the meat industry
The meat and protein supply chain is a complex ecosystem that demands careful planning. This is necessary to overcome challenges related to efficiencies, quality assurance, and technological integration. Companies need to embrace innovation, stay abreast of industry trends, and foster collaboration among stakeholders. The results are a resilient and sustainable supply chain planning and optimization that meets the growing demands of a dynamic global market. As the meat industry navigates the path from farm to fork, strategic planning remains the key ingredient for success.
Forward-thinking companies are already exploring advanced planning platforms, AI-powered demand forecasting, and integrated supply chain visibility tools. These investments aren’t just about efficiency—they’re about protecting margins, safeguarding exports, and meeting consumer expectations in premium markets.
The question is no longer if digital solutions are needed—but how fast the industry can adopt them.
Please read our eBook “The fully connected meat supply chain” for more information.