Australian Agricultural Co has finished the year on a high note by receiving the Agribusiness division award at the 50th Australian Export Awards held last night at Parliament House in Canberra.

The Agribusiness award recognises outstanding export achievement in the field of agricultural products, services or technology and the forestry, fisheries and fibres industries.

AACo was selected from eight finalists from across Australia.

Chief executive David Farley said the company was delighted to be recognised on a national scale for significant achievements in growing its exports, both in volume and in new markets, following the same win at the state level in the recent Premier of Queensland agribusiness awards

“A key strength of our business is our ability to cultivate and nurture strong professional relationships with national and international stakeholders, whether they be community groups, government, customers or shareholders,” Mr Farley said, in a statement issued this morning.

“These relationships have significantly contributed to our ten percent year-on-year growth in export sales, which increased to almost $100 million in 2011, with substantial growth attributed to our long term partners in Korea and the US.”

“Stakeholders throughout the high quality beef supply chain know the AACo business, understand our commitment to quality and recognise the benefit in working with us to further develop the market for our branded beef program.”

AACo is a leading producer, marketer and exporter of Wagyu beef, sourcing cattle from its 60,000-strong Wagyu supply chain herd.

The company's vertically-integrated supply chain and strong financial base enables the business to adapt quickly and allocate resources to produce cattle and beef to customers' specifications and meet the growing global demand for high quality beef.

AACo’s premium grassfed, grainfed and Wagyu beef is exported to 25 countries around the world including China, Japan, Korea, the US, the UK, continental Europe, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia, Russia and Qatar.