The business owners were among more than 85 exhibitors at this year’s Meet the Buyer™, Western Australia’s only dedicated trade show bringing together food and beverage suppliers and buyers. Many were exhibiting for the first time, unsure of what to expect.
Samantha Bottegal had to be persuaded to come along because she and husband Troy were so busy in the day-to-day running of Peko Peko, their Japanese-inspired restaurant and catering business. Not to mention having just moved house in Dunsborough.
“Our operations manager, who has been these sorts of things in Europe, said ‘just turn up, I’ll do the whole thing’,” she says. “And I’m so glad he did; the range of businesses I’ve met that are interested in our product has just been incredible.”
Among those savouring Peko Peko’s range of sauces were representatives from hospitality foodservice, airlines and retailers, as well as meal-kit providers.
“I thought it might be mostly retailers and because we’re already in retail, I thought ‘maybe not’, but it’s opening our eyes to what’s out there,” Samantha says. “Over the past 21 years Troy and I have just been busy working, not realising that there is this whole other industry out here that we could step into.”
There was a huge appetite for the local offerings at Crown Perth last month, with almost 400 delegates, who also came from supermarkets, hotels, restaurants and specialty stores as well as education and media sectors, sampling more than 570 products.
Bringing WA to the world
Buy West Eat Best program manager Melissa Worthington says the response to Meet the Buyer™ is bigger and better every year, as the event’s reputation grows. Now in its fifth year, the trade show hosted its first international delegation, with 22 buyers from 12 countries tasting their way around the State.
“It was wonderful to see how interested they were in what our regions produce and the innovative products that Western Australians brings to market,” Melissa says.
“The quality of our food and drink industry has to be seen – and tasted – to be believed. Meet the Buyer™ provides a unique opportunity to get in front of all the right people.”
Among those garnering international attention was Tucker Bush’s range of dried and fresh native herbs, though founder Mark Tucek was caught unawares by the scale of that interest.
“They were fascinated – one said to me ‘I’ll have two tonnes of whatever you’ve got tomorrow, and hurry up’,” he says. “It’s a wonderful opportunity that I’m not ready for yet but at least I’m on the radar now.”
Mark was also in demand with local delegates keen to know more about native herbs, such as Jambinu Zest and Lemon Myrtle. Tucker Bush began by selling pot plants before moving into dried and fresh herbs.
“We need to take this food into the public domain because all Australians really should be eating local produce,” he says. “It smells so good, it’s tasty and it’s good for you, so the more people we can make aware of it the better.”
Something to be proud of
Annabelle Coppin is another producer passionate about celebrating and sharing the quality of Australian produce. The founder of Outback Beef is the fifth generation caring for YarrieStation, north of Marble Bar, producing quality beef in a range of cuts.
While the team has been represented at Meet the Buyer™ for three years, this is her first foray down from the Pilbara.
“I’ve always wanted to come but it just gets so busy working on the station,” she says. “It is very important to be part of the network, though – you never know what will come from it but you need to be around that table.”
Annabelle also believes it’s important to take that time away from the pressures of the job to be in the room with other producers.
“To be a part of what WA has to offer is really good for your mind and something you probably don’t think about until you’re here,” she says. “Just look around at all these stalls and the amazing food we produce – that’s something to be proud of.”
Ocean Gold’s Lisa Wright didn’t even have her website finalised when she made the decision to book a stall at Meet the Buyer™. She left with a host of prospects to take her lobster oil to the market, here and overseas.
“It is absolutely overwhelming, I have met so many contacts that are going to help me define my business,” she says. “And I’ve been asked to collaborate with other producers, too, who want to use my ingredient.”
Opportunities to collaborate
One of those was Milan Vaswani, whose family business Rademi has recently launched the Amaize range of popcorn.
“It has been a really great show with the quality of the buyers who have come through, particularly some of the international players, but what we didn’t expect to get as much benefit was with the cross-collaboration between other exhibitors,” Milan says.
“We are developing a bunch of other popcorn flavours at the moment and we found some key raw material suppliers (such as the lobster oil) that we had been struggling to find, so we’re stoked about that.”
As another first-time exhibitor, Milan says they couldn’t be more impressed with the experience. “Honestly, we could have left within the first hour and been happy,” he says. “We are definitely getting a booth next year.”
Meet the Buyer™ will return on Tuesday 20 October 2026. See meetthebuyer.com.au for more details.