Australian coffee wins international popularity

Reporter: Simon Palan

MARK COLVIN: The Australian coffee industry is still a relatively small player on the world stage, but it's experiencing rapid new growth as it gets discovered by international buyers.

Australian coffee is apparently already so popular overseas that entire crops are being bought out in advance.

But coffee drinkers here seem less keen on home grown blends for their espresso and latte hits.

Simon Palan reports from the far north coast of New South Wales.

SIMON PALAN: Tractors are working overtime at Australian coffee plantations. In northern New South Wales especially, coffee production is well and truly on the boil.

A growing number of plantations are cropping up, utilising the region's unique climate and soil quality to produce premium arabica coffee beans.

And faced with a global shortage of quality product, Frank Cassells of the Hogarth Estate plantation says buyers from Europe and the US can't get enough.

More...