SOUTH Australian oyster farmer Lester Marshall found he was hamstrung when he tried to market his produce in Singapore.

"Prospective customers loved my product but couldn't identify from which region they came from," Lester said.

    AT A GLANCE
  • Who: Lester Marshall
  • What: oysters
  • Why: premium reputation
  • Where: Coffin Bay, South Australia
  • Report: JOHN PARRY

"For customers to buy my product they needed a regional identity to be able to communicate its authenticity to their customers."

Based at Coffin Bay, on South Australia's Eyre Peninsula, Lester said the closest region his prospective Asian customers could relate to was the Barossa Valley, more than 600km by road to the east.

"It was then I realised that we needed to develop a powerful regional brand," he said.

Lester has spent the past two years studying the world's best practice in regional branding as part of a Nuffield scholarship.

He travelled to 12 countries over 10 months and the lessons he learned could apply to any agricultural commodity, from beef and lamb to cheese, wine and, in his case, seafood.

The seafood sector, for example, had a real opportunity to capitalise on the international fame the Masterchef TV chef series had generated.

"And it's all about flavour," he said.

"The seafood sector has not identified the regional flavors of its seafood and the opportunity exists to develop a new, easy-to-understand language that discerning consumers are crying out for."

For seafood, Lester recommended a joint initiative between the Eyre Regional Development Board and the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation to produce tasting notes.

The notes would be written by people with trained palates to describe the aroma, texture and flavour of the region's branded products.

This model could be used as a blueprint for all quality regional produce in Australia.

"With all seafood regions pulling together we then have the ability to build the perception that Australia is the premier seafood producer of the world," he said.

"People across the globe are becoming more conscious of what they are eating and they are making more informed decisions.

"This has major ramifications in the way consumers will perceive our products and provide the opportunity for higher prices."