EP 966 | Part 1 of 5 | The History of Australian Coffee Farming (Rebecca Zentveld)

Advertising SponsorThis episode is brought to you by The Honduran Coffee Alliance, connecting Honduran coffee producers with global buyers in a fair, sustainable, and commercially viable way.WhatsApp: https://wa.me/50487350786Email: [email protected] DescriptionThis is Part 1 of a five-part series on Australian Grown Coffee with Rebecca Zentveld, second-generation coffee farmer at Zentveld’s Coffee Farms and President of the Australian Grown Coffee Association.For many people in the global coffee industry, the idea that coffee is grown in Australia still comes as a surprise. Yet modern coffee farming in Australia has been developing for more than four decades.In this episode, Rebecca explains how the modern Australian coffee industry began in the 1980s, when a small number of growers in northern New South Wales and far north Queensland began planting Arabica coffee commercially. She shares how her own family became part of that movement, planting coffee behind Byron Bay and helping establish one of the early farms in the region. The conversation also reaches further back into history, examining Australia’s little-known coffee-growing past in the late 1800s and early 1900s, when coffee was grown successfully enough to win awards in Europe before the industry faded. Rebecca explains how that historical record gave early growers confidence that quality coffee could once again be grown in Australia. We also explore what made Australia’s coffee sector different from the beginning. Many of the early growers were not generational farmers but people entering agriculture after careers in other industries. That shaped the way farms developed, how value-adding became part of the business model, and why some growers moved into roasting and direct sales rather than simply exporting green coffee. Rebecca also reflects on how Australia’s volcanic soils, cooler subtropical climate, and longer ripening periods created the foundation for a distinctive coffee-growing environment. At the same time, high labour costs and rising land values made profitability far more challenging than in many traditional producing countries. This episode sets the foundation for the series by explaining where Australian coffee farming came from, why it remains relatively small, and why it matters in the wider global conversation about coffee origins, value creation, and farming viability.In the next episode, we look at where Australian coffee is today, focusing on terroir, climate, varietals, and the distinct flavor profile of Australian-grown coffee.Connect with Rebecca Zentveld and Zentveld’s Coffee Farms here: https://www.zentvelds.com.au/ https://www.instagram.com/zentveldscoffee/ https://www.agca.au/***************************************About Map It Forward The Daily Coffee Pro is produced by Map It Forward, supporting coffee professionals globally across the supply chain.Website: https://mapitforward.coffeeMailing list: https://mapitforward.coffee/mailinglistPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/mapitforwardInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/mapitforward.coffee/Contact: [email protected]