The price of coffee beans is at its highest point in nearly half a century, as bad weather limits production overseas. But Australian growers may not be benefiting from the global shortage.
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00If you're anything like me, you simply can't start your day without a caffeine hit.
00:07But you might have noticed the price of that shot of coffee is getting more expensive.
00:12That price hike is being driven by bad weather in Brazil and Vietnam, where most of the world's
00:17coffee comes from.
00:19Roasters, like the one I'm in, largely import their beans from overseas.
00:24In fact, less than half of 1% of the coffee Australians drink is grown here in Australia.
00:30So, with that global price so high, some roasters and cafes are now looking for other options.
00:38People in particular, industry, were saying, well, why don't we have something available
00:43locally, domestically, and a product that we can offer?
00:47But growers are telling me they can barely keep up with demand as is, let alone expand.
00:54That's partly because coffee requires really specific growing conditions to thrive.
00:59In Australia, it only grows in northern New South Wales and parts of Queensland.
01:04And that land is becoming increasingly expensive.
01:08Labor also pushes production costs up.
01:11So even with the global price of coffee so high, it's still more expensive to buy beans
01:16here in Australia than it is to import them from overseas.
01:20So what can be done to expand the Australian industry?
01:24Well, some growers are putting in more plants.
01:27Sherelle, who owns this roastery, is putting in her own trees to see how coffee grows here
01:32on the New South Wales mid-north coast.
01:35But as with any crop, it'll be a few years yet before there are any actual beans.
01:41So whether you're buying it from a cafe or direct from the roaster, it could still be
01:45some time before you're drinking coffee that was grown here in Australia.
01:50For more UN videos visit www.un.org