Australasian Soil and Plant Analysis Council

What Australasian Soil and Plant Analysis Council does

Australasian Soil and Plant Analysis Council (ASPAC) is a non-profit, membership-based professional association that administers laboratory proficiency testing and certification programs for soil and plant analysis across the Australasian and Pacific region. Founded in 1990 (incorporated as Australasian Soil and Plant Analysis Council Inc, ABN 82 792 475 282, around 2012-2015), ASPAC is governed by an elected Executive Committee of approximately 11 regional representatives (covering ACT, WA, NSW, SA, VIC, QLD, NZ, and Pacific territories) supported by a part-time Executive Officer, Warren Webber, based in Blenheim, New Zealand. The organization does not sell software; rather, it operates the Inter-Laboratory Proficiency Program (ILPP), under which participating laboratories receive standardized samples, analyze them, and have their results compared against reference values to assess accuracy. Satisfactory performance yields ASPAC certification for specific analytes, covering 90+ soil and plant analytes including pH, electrical conductivity, organic carbon, macro and micronutrients (N, P, K, Ca, Mg, S), and heavy metals. ASPAC also publishes detailed Annual Reports for Soil and Plant Proficiency Programs (covering 2004-2024) and hosts an annual workshop and lab tour; the next workshop is scheduled for 20-22 October 2026 in Christchurch, New Zealand, hosted by ARL-Ravensdown.

ASPAC serves a horizontally segmented customer base: primarily commercial and government soil, plant, and environmental testing laboratories (including Hill Laboratories, SGS Australia, Eurofins APAL, Ravensdown/ARL, CSBP, and Plant and Food Research), supplemented by government research bodies (CSIRO Analytical Chemistry Group, NSW Department of Primary Industries, Fiji Agricultural Chemistry Lab), educational institutions (University of Queensland), and individual professional and student members. Its network spans 148+ certified laboratory facilities across 13 countries including Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Samoa, Thailand, and Vietnam.

The business model is subscription-based and recurring. Revenue is generated predominantly through annual membership dues: Corporate Membership for laboratories and organizations at A$500+GST (same fee internationally, with GST only applied to Australian members), Individual Membership for professionals at A$50+GST, and free Student Membership. Payment is processed by invoice via email through credit card or direct bank deposit. Marketing is community-led and event-driven, relying on the ASPAC website, annual workshops and lab tours, and email communication rather than a commercial sales motion.

Name

Australasian Soil and Plant Analysis Council

Legal name

Australasian Soil and Plant Analysis Council Inc

Website

https://aspac-australasia.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

ASPAC is a non-profit, membership-based professional association that runs inter-laboratory proficiency testing and certification for soil and plant analysis laboratories across Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific region, serving 148+ certified facilities in 13 countries.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Laboratory Certification Services

NAICS

Testing Laboratories and Services (54138), Technical and Trade Schools (6115)

SIC

Services-Testing Laboratories (8734), Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYAFALAKAK

Accreditation Support for ISO/IEC 17025 & PT Participation Compliance (Food Labs)

Agriculture & Food Production/Food Safety, Testing & Certification/Laboratory Proficiency Testing, Method Validation & Reference Materials (Food)

SECONDARYBPADAKAL

Assessment, Certification & Qualifications Frameworks

Business & Public Services/International Organizations & Development/Education & Skills Development Programs

Keywords

• Soil analysis proficiency testing
• Laboratory certification programs
• Plant tissue analysis testing
• Inter-laboratory comparison programs
• Agricultural laboratory accreditation

Headquarters

HQ city

Werribee

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Dues: ASPAC generates revenue through annual membership fees invoiced to members. Corporate members (laboratories and organizations) pay higher fees than individual members, with student membership offered at no cost. Payment is accepted via credit card or direct bank deposit.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

ASPAC is a professional membership organization that runs inter-laboratory proficiency testing programs and certification for soil and plant analysis laboratories across the Australasian and Pacific region. It administers standardized soil and plant proficiency testing rounds, maintains a laboratory certification program, and provides annual reports and workshops to support analytical consistency among member laboratories.

Product overview

ASPAC is a professional association administering laboratory proficiency programs for soil and plant analysis across Australasia. The organization operates as a membership-based body with a core Laboratory Certification Program that accredits laboratories through inter-laboratory comparison testing. The proficiency programs include separate Soil and Plant testing streams, with annual reports published from 2004 to present. ASPAC offers three membership tiers (Corporate, Individual, and Student) and conducts annual workshops featuring lab tours. The organization does not offer a software product but provides laboratory certification and proficiency testing services.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Laboratory Certification Program
• Soil Proficiency Program
• Plant Proficiency Program
• ASPAC Workshop
• Lab Proficiency Annual Reports
• Corporate Membership
• Individual Membership
• Student Membership

Named customers10 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• SGS: Global testing, inspection, and certification (TIC) giant. SGS Australia is an ASPAC-certified lab and customer; SGS as a group could conceivably internalize PT provision regionally or compete with ASPAC for laboratory accreditation services.
• Eurofins Scientific: Global leader in food, environmental, and agricultural testing. Eurofins APAL is an ASPAC-certified member; the group has the scale to launch proprietary proficiency programs that could erode ASPAC's regional position.
• Bureau Veritas: Major TIC operator with significant agricultural and environmental testing exposure in Asia-Pacific. A plausible future competitor or partner for ASPAC in delivering laboratory certification and proficiency testing at scale.
• IANZ (International Accreditation New Zealand): New Zealand's accreditation body for testing laboratories. Functionally analogous to NATA in Australia and overlaps with ASPAC in ensuring laboratory competence across soil, plant, and environmental testing.
• NATA (National Association of Testing Authorities, Australia): Australia's national accreditation body for testing and calibration laboratories. Operates upstream of ASPAC by accrediting labs against ISO/IEC 17025, and would be a partner/competitor in the lab quality ecosystem.

Others

• AOAC International: International standards organization that develops and publishes analytical methods (e.g., Official Methods of Analysis). ASPAC's standardized methods reference AOAC-like techniques; the two are methodologically adjacent and often co-referenced.
• Hill Laboratories: Major New Zealand-based agricultural and environmental testing laboratory and ASPAC-certified member. Comparable as a customer/user of proficiency testing, and an indicator of the regional lab ecosystem ASPAC serves.
• International Fertilizer Association (IFA): Global fertilizer industry association that runs interlaboratory proficiency programs for fertilizer and nutrient analysis. Adjacent to ASPAC because many ASPAC analytes and member labs serve fertilizer and nutrient management applications.

Direct peers

• WEPAL (Wageningen Evaluating Programmes for Analytical Laboratories): WEPAL runs the International Soil-Analytical Exchange (ISE) and International Plant-Analytical Exchange (IPE), the closest global analogues to ASPAC's Soil and Plant Proficiency Programs. Highly comparable given identical proficiency testing methodology and multi-decade historical data.
• ALP Program (Agricultural Laboratory Proficiency): US-based agricultural laboratory proficiency testing program covering soil, plant tissue, and water. Directly comparable to ASPAC in service offering, customer base (agronomic labs), and inter-laboratory comparison methodology.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/aspac13

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Australasian Soil and Plant Analysis Council