Australia's Domestic Coffee Industry Sees Potential for Growth

Australians are among the world's biggest coffee drinkers but less than 1 per cent of the coffee consumed nationwide is grown locally.

As harvest gets underway on the Atherton Tablelands in Far North Queensland, researchers and growers believe there is significant room for the domestic coffee industry to grow.

Rising consumer demand, improved production methods and trials of new coffee varieties are fuelling optimism Australia could produce a greater share of its own beans.

Southern Cross University professor for plant breeding and genetics Tobias Kretzschmar has spent years trialling different coffee varieties to identify those best suited to Australian conditions.

"We're never going to be mainstream so we can't ever meet the total demand of Australian coffee even if we ramped up with maximum potential," he said.

"I expect we can expand quite massively with the shift in consumer preferences, but also because we are starting to get competitive in terms of pricing."

Professor Kretzschmar's research has identified four promising varieties of coffee, with growers now beginning to scale up production on commercial farms.

While Australia's coffee industry is concentrated in Far North Queensland and northern New South Wales, Professor Kretzschmar said new regions were showing potential.

"We're now going to test whether or not we can grow coffee in Western Australia but also expand production areas in the established regions," he said.

He said interest was also growing among producers looking to diversify, particularly avocado growers.

"One of the key drivers we're realising is there's been an overproduction of avocados in Australia," he said.

"There's too many avocado farmers that are looking to diversify.

"Traditionally, if you can grow an avocado, it's pretty much the right climate and soil to be growing coffee as well, so that's worth trialling."

Professor Kretzschmar said macadamia growers were also exploring coffee as an alternative crop.

Bigger crops, bigger demand

Far North Queensland coffee grower Jack Murat has been trialling some of the new varieties on his farm.

He has been expanding production in both variety and volume.

"We'll be planting … another 80,000 plants [this year]," he said.

Mr Murat said less than 0.5 per cent of the coffee consumed in Australia was produced, grown and roasted domestically.

"If we can increase that a couple of per cent, we'll be happy," he said.

Mr Murat said consumers had become more interested in Australian coffee over the past five years.

"I think the demand for Australian grown and produced coffee, but produce in general, is generally pretty good because we have a good standard of quality," he said.

Mareeba coffee grower Rob Jaques is also expecting a bumper crop this season.

"We were looking at one of the biggest harvests we've ever had, and it's now being confirmed it is the biggest harvest we've ever had," he said.

He said his consumer base had increased 20 per cent year-on-year for the past four years.

"The market there is huge. It's imported coffee from around the world otherwise, and more people are coming to the realisation that Australian coffee is good," Mr Jaques said.