Australia's digital wholesale market for fresh produce, the HiveXchange, has expanded into Asia in order to provide new export opportunities for its members.

The HiveXchange, which claims to offer a "new form of trust based trading", announced the opening of a Hong Kong office and is actively recruiting commercial buyers looking to source Australian produce through "information-rich, short supply chains."

The company said it was already making waves in Asian markets having been invited to present at a trade fair on the power of B2B e-commerce to unlock value in food supply chains.

“Asian consumers, buyers and food supply chains are already digital, we see an enormous opportunity for Australian exporters to build on our national reputation for safe, premium produce by bringing buyers virtually to Australian farms," CEO and co-founder Antonio Palanca said in a release.

He added the country would sell the story of its produce and trade in an "innovative digital marketplace that supports the Taste Australia emphasis on market access and provenance."

In Asia’s e-commerce driven supply chain, the HiveXchange offers a comparative advantage to Australian exporters by removing the barriers of distance, market awareness and access, the release said.

"Its unique trust based e-commerce model, or T-ecommerce™, combines efficient e-commerce workflow with the transparency, privacy and security of traditional trade networks," it said.

T-ecommerce is described as "an industrial strength technology built by Australian engineers that is used inside the platform" on the company's website.

"It translates market offers into any language in real time, allowing Australian producers and businesses to access, negotiate and trade with international buyers on one, simple to use interface," the release said.

The HiveXchange is inviting Australian producers and exporters to register their business and produce on the ‘Taste Australia’ marketplace.

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