Accessing the Japanese food grain market by supplying Australian non GMO grain inputs: the case of an Australian small business food quality corn and soybeans exporter

This dissertation investigates how an independent Australian grain exporting SME has been able to access the Japanese market for food quality soybeans and corn. This firm has succeeded in entering this market despite entrenched competition from traditional suppliers in the USA and Canada and in the face of rigorous food safety and quality standards as required in this particular market. The research in this dissertation focuses on outlining the critical ‘enabling competencies’ that the firm and its suppliers developed in order to enter the Japanese market. A single case methodology involving multiple in-depth interviews with key stakeholders was used to provide triangulated evidence concerning the necessary and sufficient conditions for SME exporters to compete successfully in such mature markets, particularly in the face of entrenched competition from large scale suppliers of similar products from the United States and Canada. From the data collected in this research, a model of SME internationalisation was proposed highlighting the driving forces which stimulated the development of a set of ‘enabling competencies’ enabling successful entry into the Japanese market for food grains. This model has both practical and theoretical implications for the development of trade between Australia and Japan in the food grain sector. In conclusion this dissertation suggests that firms with the capacity to develop such competencies can succeed in entering enter such productmarkets.