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The Australian coffee industry is having a growth spurt. The arrival of new coffee varieties into Australia and rising prices abroad have made local beans more competitive. Demand for Australian coffee has surged as worldwide supply has tightened. The industry has also recently gained access to four new arabica coffee varieties from World Coffee Research International. Growers will be able to create "trial blocks" on their farms for different coffee plants, where they can test the new varieties and their performance. Two have been established — one in northern New South Wales, and one in Far North Queensland. Australian Grown Coffee Association president Rebecca Zentveld's family started NSW's first coffee farm outside Byron Bay in 1993. She said she had watched how the industry had shifted over the past three decades. "[The industry] hasn't been growing so much over the last 20 years, but we are on a path of growth now because now we're excited by the availability of new varieties," she said. Ms Zentveld said there had been "wonderful growth" in coffee farmer numbers across Queensland and NSW, rising from 30 to 45 in the past year. But she said the entire local supply would cover just one out of every 300 coffees made nationally. "So, we really need to grow more so that we can satisfy the Australian market," she said. She said that would take time to change, with growers having to wait four years to harvest freshly planted crops. Local bean boom Far North Queensland grower Jack Murat has been growing premium coffee near Mareeba, outside Cairns, since 2014. He has begun roasting his own product, and even opened his own cafe at Bondi with beans from his farm, due to the demand for locally-grown coffee. "Coffee culture is massive in Australia, not just in the big cities, but across the smaller communities and towns and cities," he said. He said the roasting side of the business had taken off in the past 18 months, as consumers became more interested in local coffee. The new bean in town? Mr Murat is also among those exploring new varieties of coffee. Robusta is a different coffee bean species to arabica, typically used in instant coffee, with Vietnam the largest producer. Robusta has not been approved to grow in Australia, but Mr Murat hoped that would soon change. He said the new variety would help to boost Australian coffee production, as it was a higher-yielding crop. Ms Zentveld said her ambition was for Australia to one day not just meet local demand, but to find buyers overseas. "We really need to grow more so that we can satisfy the Australian market, let alone export it — the export potential is certainly there."
