Food, wine & agriculture

Growing South Australia’s food, wine and agriculture industry

The food, wine and agriculture industry is the backbone of the South Australian economy. Challenges such as soil degradation, reduced water availability, global health pandemics and export tariffs make it a critical time to find solutions that can protect and support business growth.

A thriving food, wine and agriculture industry requires diverse expertise. At UniSA, we bring together researchers from multidisciplinary areas, including science, marketing, engineering, psychology, nutrition and biochemistry, to find new and efficient ways of delivering and bringing quality products to market.

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What we do

Food safety, quality, and security; plant nutrition and soil fertility solutions

Consumer behaviour modelling, wine marketing and brand development

Agriculture machinery performance testing and post-harvest processing technology

Preventing diet-related health issues

Inspiring young talent through project-based PhD opportunities is another way that we work with industry to support thought leadership and address the complex problems of our partners. Our researchers and students work with industry on a variety of projects, including:

Developing a breakthrough technique that has modified soil assessment policies
Uncovering brand growth strategies for food and wine
Identifying improvements in no-till cropping technology
Developing a world-first automation for simultaneously grading almond quality and detecting mycotoxin contamination in kernels
Understanding the impact of nutritional supplements and meal replacement
Exploring the impact that a Mediterranean diet can have on cognitive and cardiovascular health.

With expert researchers and state-of-the-art facilities, we have the capabilities to work with partners on a range of sector-related challenges and opportunities.

Our partners

At UniSA, we match our research strengths and capability with the demands and opportunities of our partners, and maximise the mutual benefits of engagement.

UniSA's Enterprise Hub

The Enterprise Hub creates and sustains partnerships with organisations of all sizes, leveraging UniSA’s industry expertise and experience to solve problems, innovate and add value. Discover a range of services that can help you achieve your business goals.

Why partner with UniSA?

WELL ABOVE WORLD-CLASS RESEARCH IN PHARMACY AND NUTRITION

2018 Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA)

No.1 IN AUSTRALIA FOR RESEARCH IMPACT AND ENGAGEMENT

2018 ARC Engagement and Impact Assessment (EI), Combined Impact – Approach to Impact and Engagement on Assessed
Fields.

#1 YOUNG UNIVERSITY IN AUSTRALIA FOR INDUSTRY COLLABORATIONS

2024 THE Young University Rankings – Industry Income Indicator.

WELL ABOVE WORLD-CLASS RESEARCH IN CIVIL, ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONIC, MECHANICAL, MATERIALS AND RESOURCES ENGINEERING

2018 Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA)

ONE OF AUSTRALIA’S LEADING UNIVERSITIES FOR ENGINEERING RESEARCH

UniSA’s Engineering research rated well above world-class – 2018 Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA)

#1 YOUNG UNIVERSITY IN AUSTRALIA FOR INDUSTRY INCOME

2024 THE Young University Rankings.

100% OF OUR ASSESSED RESEARCH RATED AT OR ABOVE WORLD-CLASS

2018 Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA), 4-digit Fields of Research.

Partner case studies

Treating gastric disease in horses

Equine gastric disease affects millions of horses worldwide, especially in the racing and endurance riding sectors. The current standard treatment for gastric disease and associated ulcers is a daily oral paste, but for some ulcers oral treatment can be ineffective, and many horses don’t accept the paste willingly.

An eight-year joint project between UniSA and animal health industry partner Luoda Pharma has produced a long-acting gastric ulcer medicine, injected weekly, that heals ulcers in horses much faster than current treatments.

“Through the collaboration with Prof Garg’s team of researchers at UniSA, we have together invented something of great direct benefit to horses, and secondarily to their owners, worldwide. The unmet clinical needs we are endeavouring to solve are all very challenging – they have never been solved before.”

Dr Stephen Page, Head of Product Development, Luoda Pharma

UniSA research reveals almonds can promote heart health and weight loss

Consumers know that almonds are healthy. Or do they? This era of information overload – driven largely by social media’s surplus of advertising, opinion and chatter — tends to dilute research-backed information. That's why The Almond Board of California teamed up with UniSA nutritional experts to ensure that more consumers were aware of the health benefits of almonds. The collaboration proved that almonds can be included effectively in an energy restricted diet and that the nut does do not prevent weight loss.

“UniSA’s research shows that a diet enriched with almonds can improve appetite regulation, assist with weight loss, increase diet quality, and enhanced heart health.”

Elena Hemler, Associate Director, Almond Board of California

Explore our research

As Australia’s University of Enterprise, our research centres work closely with industry on projects that deliver improvements in food, wine and agriculture.

Agricultural Machinery Research and Design Centre (AMRDC)

Learn more about the Agricultural Machinery Research and Design Centre (AMRDC) at UniSA and our contributions to agricultural engineering and sustainability.

Alliance for Research in Exercise, Nutrition and Activity (ARENA)

ARENA is a research centre within UniSA investigating the role of exercise, nutrition and other lifestyle activities in improving clinical and health outcomes.

Centre for Enterprise Dynamics in Global Economies

UniSA’s Centre for Enterprise Dynamics in Global Economies generates innovative solutions to build sustainable local, regional & global prosperity.

Centre for Pharmaceutical Innovation

The University of South Australia’s Centre for Pharmaceutical Innovation designs and develops conventional and novel patient centric pharmaceutical products.

Ehrenberg-Bass Institute for Marketing Science

The Ehrenberg-Bass Institute is the world’s largest institute for research into marketing. Based within UniSA Business, the Institute is the home of evidence-based marketing. Over 60 Marketing Scientists are making...

Sustainable Infrastructure and Resource Management (SIRM)

UniSA's Sustainable Infrastructure and Resource Management conducts specialist research to support improved environmental and socio-economic sustainability.

View our research

Experts in food, wine & agriculture

Meet our researchers and learn about how they are working towards solving industry and partner challenges.

My research focuses on buyer behaviour and brand performance, scientific laws in marketing, marketing-based assets and advertising and media. I work with global organisations such as Coca-Cola, Mars, Procter and Gamble and Unilever through the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute’s Corporate Sponsorship Program to provide insights for effective marketing and brand management.

Professor Byron Sharp
Director, Ehrenberg-Bass Institute

Professor Byron Sharp
Director, Ehrenberg-Bass Institute

My research expertise focuses on how to effectively utilise and integrate the marketing and sales functions to achieve business growth with extensive application in the wine and Agrifood sectors. I work with senior leaders from corporations globally helping them embed an evidence-based mindset and illustrate how their business can best invest their budgets to achieve sustainable growth.

Dr Justin Cohen

Dr Justin Cohen

As a molecular biologist, my research focuses on food safety & quality, and glycation biomarkers & disease. Our current research focus on food safety includes collaboration with ECAS Pty Ltd and organisations from the seafood and horticulture industries to investigate the efficacy of a pH-neutral electrochemically activate solution (ECAS) and its impact on microbial load and pathogenic bacteria in foods. A pH-neutral sanitiser like this could extend the shelf-life of food, hence significantly reducing food spoilage and waste.

Dr Permal Deo

Dr Permal Deo

Find a research expert

Food, wine and agriculture training and development   

UniSA offers a range of bachelor, master, PhD and Executive Education programs in nutrition, science, environmental science, engineering, marketing and tourism that align to the sector’s needs in developing and transforming its future workforce.