Australia has an extraordinary coffee culture. Right now it grows less than 0.4 percent of the coffee drank around the country. The cultivation of coffee primarily occurs on the Eastern Seaboard in Queensland and northern New South Wales, where producers are challenged by drastic effects of a changing climate. Tactics Teams are currently working to increase local production of coffee. They’re finding out which new coffee varieties might adapt well in Australian climate and topography.
As Australians continue to drink around six billion cups of coffee a year, reports Agrifutures Australia. With interest exceeding supply, there is a pressing opportunity to increase the availability of locally-grown coffee. Dr. Ben Liu has played a crucial role in this process by helping to develop a taste wheel to describe the characteristics of Australian coffee. Through his research, he has found that Australian coffee is characterized by sweetness, fruitiness, nuttiness and roastiness.
Local café owner Kim Towner from Coffs Harbour stresses that if you’re going to serve coffee, shop locally and brew the good stuff. For her, the decision was straightforward.
“All of these things you hear different blends and different stories about the coffee. But I just thought it tasted good. And it’s super fresh. We know that everybody is getting paid fairly for it.” – Kim Towner
Towner’s commitment directly empowers the farmers in her community. This cuts down the considerable environmental footprint that comes along with shipping coffee all over the world. She adds that procuring local is key to sustainability.
Beyond Towner’s initiatives, industry analysts are uncovering opportunities to increase local production of coffee. Paul Joules, a research analyst with Rabobank, indicates a keen interest in trialing 20 to 30 coffee varieties globally to find those best suited for Australian conditions.
Professor Tobias Kretzschmar is very much involved in these efforts. His vision is to replicate at least half a percent of what Australian drinkers consume today. He is convinced that doubling or tripling their production capacity will be viewed as a great success across the industry. This goal motivates his love for technology and development.
“We’re covering around half a percent of what the Australian consumer is drinking at the moment. If we can double that, that’d be fantastic.” – Professor Tobias Kretzschmar
The next stage of this research is to field test the two or three best-performing coffee varieties on a commercial scale. This is important work that will help find new genetic varieties that can perform more effectively under Australia’s harsher climate conditions and increasingly mechanized agriculture.
According to Dr. Liu’s research, when cupping different Australian coffees, some flavors keep coming through. He explains:
“We collect 100 single-origin coffees around Australian farmers. And when we run this tasting panel, the words that keep coming out for Australian coffee are they are sweet and they are fruity and they are nutty and roasty.” – Dr Ben Liu
He points to the careful process that went into developing the taste wheel used to identify these coffees. Through this process, we distill hard-earned insights from pioneering leaders of various sectors in the coffee industry.
“First we actually have this coffee tasting by different professionals. They work in the coffee industry for decades… and then we bring the exact same sample they taste back to our lab and do carry out analysis.” – Dr Ben Liu
Despite facing climate-related challenges, farmers in Queensland and northern New South Wales remain hopeful about the potential for local coffee production to grow. Indeed, Towner’s philosophy fits closely with this community-focused vision, for she takes delight in boosting local growers and knowing where her ingredients come from.
“That’s been a real passion of mine since I first went into the cafe business, was to buy as close to home as I could.” – Kim Towner
Research is progressing, and local farmers are following suit in adjusting to a changing climate. Together, these factors have set Australia up well to be a significant global player in the coffee market. The country has a hard-won reputation for sustainability and quality. With these initiatives, it has the potential to make its mark on the coffee industry in a special way.
