Assessing the performance of international coffee cultivars in Australia

The Australian coffee grower industry generates a unique product from a small footprint. Established over the past 30 years it has successfully created a distinct niche, delivering high quality product to small domestic, tourist and specialist export markets. This investment will assess new coffee cultivars for their suitability to Australian production that a) decrease the cost of production given high labour costs; b) improve productivity through less pruning; c) are not susceptible to the major diseases of coffee that are found in the major coffee producing regions; and d) sustain or increase quality and the unique attributes of Australian grown coffee. The investment adopts a participatory approach that includes specialist coffee markets as partners directly involved in the investment, selection and marketing decisions associated with new plantings.