Hong Kong airline, Cathay Pacific, will make its first cargo flight to regional Australia on Monday to fly produce directly from the country's food bowl to China.
The flight will take off from Wellcamp Airport, built near Toowoomba by the BRW Rich List members the Wagner family.
Cathay Pacific's south-west Pacific general manager, Nelson Chin, said the company was "excited" about the trial. 
"This is a very exciting time for Australian exporters, and it seems south-east Queensland and Northern New South Wales producers and businesses have enormous potential for growth after the signing of the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement," Mr Chin said in a statement.
While food processors, including Northern NSW's Bindaree Beef, believe the flight will be a game changer, Cathay Pacific has stressed it is only a test.
"It is a one-off flight. It is a trial and there is nothing definite at this moment," said a Cathay Pacific spokeswoman when asked about the prospect of regular flights from Toowoomba to China.
Part of the economic viability of flying a plane to a particular destination is securing two-way trade so a plane is full on both arrival and departure.
Bindaree Beef chief financial officer James Roger said he believed the business case stood up.
"Our expertise is sourcing, chilling and packing meat ??? but I understand the economics from the airport's point of view is about trying to source both flights coming into Australia and going out being full of goods," he said.
"So my understanding is Wellcamp would be looking to fill both the routes."
Bindaree will send between one and two tonnes of chilled beef on the test flight.
"Ongoing, we are looking to work with the Wellcamp facility for it to become a significant part of our logistics channel. We feel that over the next two to five years that will build significantly."
A big part of the appeal of flying produce from Toowoomba to China is it halves the amount of road travel time for Bindaree to send beef to an international airport, Mr Roger said.
Currently Bindaree uses Sydney Airport, which is about 700 kilometres from its factory in Inverell, whereas Toowoomba is about a 320 kilometre trip.
The shorter distance also halves the time it takes for Bindaree's produce to land in China. Produce will arrive in Asia the day after leaving Inverell, whereas at the moment the next day means the produce arriving at Sydney Airport, Mr Roger said.
The test flight comes after Shandong Delisi??? - a Chinese pork processor worth about $1 billion - bought 45 per cent of Bindaree for $140 million.
"Shandong Delisi is expected to provide new opportunities for our product, and having a faster path to markets is a crucial part of our overall strategic plan," Mr Roger said.
Beef prices are at record levels, fetching 595.5 cents a kilogram, according to the benchmark eastern young cattle indicator. Tight beef supplies and a weakening Australian dollar have fuelled the high prices.
The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) projects the value of food consumed in China to more than double between 2009 and 2050. 
The average Chinese eats 57 kilograms of meat a year - 23 per cent more than a decade ago, but only half that of a typical Australian.
"Our view is that they're going to be strong for some time," Mr Roger said.
"There are lots of factors contributing to pricing and one of them is definitely the shortage in the supply of cattle.
"There have been very high levels of slaughtering and processing over the past two years so the industry is likely going into a rebuilding stage."