Ancient grains like chia and quinoa were once worshipped by the Aztecs and Incas and in modern times they have become part of a multi-billion-dollar health-food industry.

Both rich in dietary fibre and anti-oxidants, quinoa and chia seeds have dramatically risen in demand as part of a consumer trend towards superfoods and gluten-free alternatives.

Quinoa's rise to global superfood status saw the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation declare 2013 the International Year of Quinoa.

However, a global oversupply of the trendy grains has led to a number of pioneering Australian growers being forced to scale down production.

But will that spell the end of the Aussie superfood boom? Not necessarily. But it has changed the way they do business.

The Three Farmers Quinoa story

Three Farmers Quinoa, which has been operating in Western Australia's Wheatbelt since 2010, is one of the country's more established quinoa brands.

Local farmers Ashley Wiese and Megan Gooding joined forces with agronomist Garren Knell to build the Three Farmers brand and their own processing facility in 2015.

Kukerin grower Megan Gooding, Narrogin grower Ashley Wiese and agronomist Garren Knell with quinoa. ( Supplied )

Ms Gooding said it had been a tough couple of years for local quinoa producers, with the price of the burgeoning superfood tumbling from $7.50 a kilogram at its peak in 2014, to around $3kg today.

"When we started with quinoa about eight years ago it was still very much a niche grain then, we didn't realise it was going to be so volatile," she said.



Aussie farmers unable to compete on cost with Latin America

Ms Gooding said one of the biggest challenges growers faced in Australia was the flood of cheap quinoa seeds being produced in South America.

Our best stories in your inbox Subscribe to Rural RoundUp: Get our best stories from rural and regional Australia every Friday.

In just Bolivia alone, 32,000 tons of quinoa were sold for $74 million, according to the 2017 Bolivian Economy Report.

"Large commercial farms have come online, and they've produced a large amount in a very short period, which basically dumped a lot of quinoa on the market," Ms Gooding said.

The Ord's climate and reliable water supply makes it an ideal place to grow chia. ( ABC Rural: Tom Edwards )

"One of the problems is that farmers in Australia have to comply with … more regulatory restraints than farmers in South America and that really impacts on how cheaply we can produce our products.

"We've probably had a tenfold decrease in the amount that we were expecting to put in since we started in 2015.

Changing attitudes to consumption of superfoods

Ms Gooding said they had significantly reduced their plantings of quinoa in favour of traditional grain crops like wheat, barley and canola.

But despite the softening price and growing supply from Latin American competitors, she believed there was still a bright future ahead.

"The amount of volatility that has happened since we've been in the quinoa market has surprised us a lot, but it still has scope to be able to stabilise and improve," she said.

Quinoa crop in Narrogin, Western Australia. ( ABC News: Fiona Pepper )

"When we first started, quinoa was really … grain-in-a-bag product and now it's getting incorporated a lot more into different foods.

"A lot of cereals now have quinoa and chia in them, a lot of breads do as well, so we're getting the superfoods into our diets in a different way."

The Chia Company story

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Watch Duration: 1 minute 48 seconds 1 m 48 s South Korea’s obsession with corn chips is opening doors of opportunity for farmers in WA’s far north

It's a similar story for chia in the Kimberley's Ord Irrigation Scheme, where plantings have reduced significantly in the past few years.

Only 15 years ago, chia was predicted to emerge as the next big crop for the region.

An ideal climate and reliable water supply saw the Ord rise quickly to become the world's largest producers of the ancient grain.

But like quinoa, an oversupply of the product from Latin America and spiralling spot prices have seen many farmers in the region turn their attention to emerging opportunities in other crops like maize, cotton and chickpeas.

Moving towards high-value food products

Like many Australian quinoa brands, the Chia Company has responded to the oversupply in the ancient grains market by shifting its focus from being a raw seed supplier to a food producer.

"We recognised that early and that journey has been on for over a decade now," said the company's founder, John Foss.

"A bigger proportion of our revenue at the Chia Company is from ready-to-eat and higher-value produce, so less volume but more value.

"But at the same time, we still have some really good contracts with a lot of the global food manufacturers that have quality as their number one criteria.

"They'll choose chia from the Ord, knowing that we guarantee supply whereas for the spot traders it's cheaper to buy the cheaper product on a year-by-year basis."

A chia crop flowering in the Ord Valley in the WA Kimberley region. ( Supplied: the Chia Company )

According to a report in 2015, 1 million chia pods were sold in 90 days after the launch of the Whole Foods Market in the US, while in Australia, 10 million chia pods were sold through Woolworths and Coles in 12 months.

Mr Foss said demand had never been stronger for plant-based food products and convenient 'on-the-go' eating.

"One of the by-products of the price softening is that [chia] is going to a wider range of products, from breakfast cereals and bars, beverages and baby food products," he said.

"It's not just chia but it's the whole portfolio of plant-based foods that have got a functional benefit, particularly ancient grains that have gluten-free status.

"Whether it's philosophical, health and wellness or whether it's sustainability, that trend is in play and all of these plant-based crops have got an opportunity to play in that space."

Research and development the key

The beginnings of a quinoa and tabouli salad. ( ABC Rural: Warwick Long )

Mr Foss said the key to giving Australian farmers a competitive advantage in the global quinoa and chia markets was by investing in research and development, and new products.

He said the Chia Company had invested heavily in the Northern Australian Crop Research Alliance (NACRA).

NACRA works with farmers, government and universities on a range of breeding and agronomic trials in the region.

"There's a lot also riding on this R&D program because we have to push our yields higher, we have to make sure we maintain our quality and then we have to stay engaged with the farmers and making sure it works for them," Mr Foss said.

"Because if it doesn't work, if it doesn't fit into the rotation and they can't make money, then they'll pretty quickly choose something else to grow."

A national project, co-funded with the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation, has also rolled out across the country to see how quinoa copes in different settings.

Ms Gooding agreed that R&D would be an important way forward but said consumers could also do their bit to support Australian superfoods.

"People really need to be prepared to pay more for Australian products that are traceable, extremely good quality and are grown in environmentally sustainable conditions," she said.

"I think there needs to be a change in how consumers value Australian produce and then we might be able to be a bit more competitive."