Failed crops overseas have seen the demand for coffee beans outstrip the global supply and with prices soaring to their highest point in almost 50 years Australian growers are hoping to fill some of the gap. But even with rising demand at home the Ausie coffee bean industry still has a long way to go.
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00:00Bad weather in Brazil and Vietnam has seen supply from two of the world's largest coffee-producing
00:08countries dry up.
00:11Global prices haven't been this high since the 1970s, during another Brazilian weather
00:17disaster.
00:19The current coffee squeeze has some local roasters turning to the domestic bean market.
00:24We get questioned often, probably on a weekly basis, do we offer Australian coffee?
00:29Sherelle Harkins says more Australians are looking to shop local when sourcing their
00:34daily caffeine hit.
00:36That mentality is something that people are definitely looking towards.
00:41If we can help support our own industry and our own markets, let's do that.
00:44So this one's also an organic product.
00:47But growing demand isn't enough.
00:49Australian coffee is also in short supply.
00:53Less than half of one percent of the coffee Australians drink is grown here in Australia.
00:58But new growers are entering the market, while existing Australian producers are expanding.
01:04On this farm we've got about 45,000 established trees and we're currently planting out 2,000
01:16of the two new varieties.
01:18These new coffee trees will take several years to be productive.
01:22The domestic industry also needs to overcome higher wages and land prices in order to be
01:29competitive.
01:30We're aiming to try and get enough coffee up and running in the next few years so that
01:35when the Olympics are in Brisbane that we can supply coffee for the venue up there.
01:41So even with new trees going into the ground now, it could still be some time before the
01:46Australian market picks up.