"Rice" and noodles made from oats are on track to replace the more traditional versions in Asian pantries as international demand for the Australian product continues to grow.
My PlantCo has teamed up with the Australian Export Grains Innovation Centre (AEGIC) to develop rice and noodles made from West Australian oats as a healthier alternative to rice and wheat.
So far, they have seen strong domestic interest, as well as from regions such as Japan, Korea, and the Middle East.
CEO of My PlantCo, Mei Yong, said consumers were looking for alternatives to the rice staple in their meals.
"Asian consumers, I think they've been waiting for this product; they already have such a strong appetite for healthy food," she said.
"The health properties [in oats] outweigh what your rice grain could offer.
"What we're proposing with oat rice, it's higher in protein, it's great for cholesterol, diabetes, it's great for gut health as well, and dietary fibre."
Although rice is a much more readily available grain for Asian consumers, Ms Yong said the demand indicated consumers were more than willing to import the oat-based alternative.
The company is aiming to have the product commercially available this year.
Jack King is the barley and oats quality program manager with AEGIC, and said with the right education and appropriate marketing, Australian oats had a good chance of becoming a household staple in Asia.
"Lifestyle diseases such as heart disease and diabetes are prominent through both Australia and the Pacific and Asia," he said.
"There are trends in markets towards these nutritional and healthy products or healthy eating.
"It fits the bill in that particular market stream very well, so with a bit of promotion and a bit of education with a lot of these markets, we see great potential for them going forward."
Opportunity for farmers
Western Australia is the biggest oat-producing state in the country, with the majority coming from the Great Southern region.
Ashley Weise is a grower from Narrogin and is also the Chair of the Grains Australia Oat Council.
He has been collaborating on the project, and said it was a great opportunity for himself and other farmers.
"Oats have typically come from a market that's been based around feed, and it's shifted into this human consumption market, which is now very much being driven by health," he said.
"It's really exciting, we're seeing an increase in demand for oats around the world.
"We would definitely have not produced enough oats to meet demand, and that reflects in the very high prices that have been paid for oats now."
He said he had noticed stronger export markets into China and Taiwan for the raw oat product as well.
What does it taste like?
Ms Yong describes herself as a big rice eater, backed by her Chinese-Malaysian heritage.
As a rice snob, she said the product did not taste like porridge.
"If we're looking at a jasmine rice and a brown rice, I would say it's in between … but it's just got this beautiful nutty aroma to it," she said.
"It's not as chewy as brown rice, it's much easier to cook and much easier to eat and digest."
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