beanscenemag.com.au 85The Australian Subtropical Coffee Growers Association salutes two
trailblazers of the local coffee growing community who dedicated
their lives to encouraging quality over quantity.
L
ast year saw the passing
of two stalwarts of the
Australian subtropical
coffee industry: Joan
Dibden and John Zentveld.
Each, in their own way, contributed to
the establishment, development, and
expansion of the coffee-growing industry
in the Northern Rivers Region of New
South Wales. We, as an industry, have
benefited from the sound groundwork
these modern-day pioneers put in place,
and will do so for years to come.JOAN DIBDEN
(24.9.1933 – 13.9.2018)
Joan and her partner Joy Phelps retired
from their pathology and nursing careers
respectively to take up the challenge
of rekindling a local coffee industry
that had folded some 60 years earlier.
They established their Wombah Coffee
Plantation near Iluka in 1982. They used
seed from existing coffee trees in the area
that were descendants of original coffee
trees planted by Joan’s ancestor, John
Bale, at Woolbin Island on the Clarence
River near Wombah in the 1890s. Before
long they had grown the plantation to
its capacity of 1100 trees. Their original
intention was to produce just enough
coffee to use themselves but by 1992,
production exceeded their demand,
and they sold their excess green beans
to the Sydney market.
Joan and Joy encouraged other locals
in the Richmond Valley to get into coffee
growing and for a small fee, they processed
the coffee, and roasted their harvests.
Joan and Joy insisted that all coffee they
processed was to be handpicked and sun-
dried, and advised prospective growers
never to plant more trees than they
could cope with because of the high costinvolved in hand harvesting.
Once the roastery and café were
established in the 1990s, they had
established the first ‘crop to cup’
coffee enterprise in Australia – a path
that others were to follow.JOHN ZENTVELD
(27.6.32 – 17.3.2019)
When Phytophthora fungus devastated
John’s avocado plantation in the late
1980s, he looked for a replacement
crop to grow on his Newrybar property.
David Peasley from the NSW Agriculture’s
Tropical Research Centre at Alstonville
encouraged John to grow coffee.
It was known historically that the
Northern Rivers Area was perfect for
growing coffee. However, the high cost
of labour caused the industry to die by
the early 20th century. John’s interest
was stimulated by the development of a
mechanical harvester, which at the time
cost 60 cents per kilogram against $6 per
kilogram for hand harvesting.
John was also an enthusiastic
participant in the varietals trials to select
the best coffee to grow in the Northern
Rivers region, a project undertakenby the NSW Department of Primary
Industries. John started off planting two
acres with several of the variety finalists.
When the trees were three years
old, with the financial backing of the
government, a harvester was brought
down from the manufacturer in Bundaberg
for trials. The result was so good John
decided to continue planting out the
whole property with 33,000 K7 varietal
coffee trees, and thus became the first
commercial-sized coffee grower in
subtropical Australia.
John will be remembered for his
tenacity to gain distribution rights for
coffee processing equipment in the Pacific
Rim, and initiate the manufacture of small
coffee pulpers for small landholder coffee
producers, which are now sold in Australia
and across the Pacific.
The Australian subtropical coffee
industry owes a great debt to the vision,
initiative, hard work, and success of Joan
and John and their respective partners.
They helped establish and grow an
industry in the Australian subtropics that
produces coffee comparable to some of
the best and more established growing
regions of the world.Leading legacies
ASTCA
Jos Webber is the Treasurer of the Australian Subtropical Coffee Association.JoaJo n DnDibdibden en enof oof of Wo mWo mWo mWo mWo mWo mWo mWo mWoWWWo mWo mW bahbahbahbahbahbhbabahbabababahaa CCCoCoCoCoCoCCoCCCCCffeffeffeffeffeffeffeffefffffffee e Pe Pe Pe ee lantation..PatPatPPatriariariarcrcrcrchrcrrcrcrcrcrcrcccchchhofofofofththththhhe Ne Ne Ne Ne Ne NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNortortortortherherherhernRn Rn Rn Rn iveiveiveivers’rs’’’cococooffeffeffeffeee-e-e-
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trailblazers of the local coffee growing community who dedicated
their lives to encouraging quality over quantity.
L
ast year saw the passing
of two stalwarts of the
Australian subtropical
coffee industry: Joan
Dibden and John Zentveld.
Each, in their own way, contributed to
the establishment, development, and
expansion of the coffee-growing industry
in the Northern Rivers Region of New
South Wales. We, as an industry, have
benefited from the sound groundwork
these modern-day pioneers put in place,
and will do so for years to come.
JOAN DIBDEN
(24.9.1933 – 13.9.2018)
Joan and her partner Joy Phelps retired
from their pathology and nursing careers
respectively to take up the challenge
of rekindling a local coffee industry
that had folded some 60 years earlier.
They established their Wombah Coffee
Plantation near Iluka in 1982. They used
seed from existing coffee trees in the area
that were descendants of original coffee
trees planted by Joan’s ancestor, John
Bale, at Woolbin Island on the Clarence
River near Wombah in the 1890s. Before
long they had grown the plantation to
its capacity of 1100 trees. Their original
intention was to produce just enough
coffee to use themselves but by 1992,
production exceeded their demand,
and they sold their excess green beans
to the Sydney market.
Joan and Joy encouraged other locals
in the Richmond Valley to get into coffee
growing and for a small fee, they processed
the coffee, and roasted their harvests.
Joan and Joy insisted that all coffee they
processed was to be handpicked and sun-
dried, and advised prospective growers
never to plant more trees than they
could cope with because of the high cost
involved in hand harvesting.
Once the roastery and café were
established in the 1990s, they had
established the first ‘crop to cup’
coffee enterprise in Australia – a path
that others were to follow.JOHN ZENTVELD
(27.6.32 – 17.3.2019)
When Phytophthora fungus devastated
John’s avocado plantation in the late
1980s, he looked for a replacement
crop to grow on his Newrybar property.
David Peasley from the NSW Agriculture’s
Tropical Research Centre at Alstonville
encouraged John to grow coffee.
It was known historically that the
Northern Rivers Area was perfect for
growing coffee. However, the high cost
of labour caused the industry to die by
the early 20th century. John’s interest
was stimulated by the development of a
mechanical harvester, which at the time
cost 60 cents per kilogram against $6 per
kilogram for hand harvesting.
John was also an enthusiastic
participant in the varietals trials to select
the best coffee to grow in the Northern
Rivers region, a project undertakenby the NSW Department of Primary
Industries. John started off planting two
acres with several of the variety finalists.
When the trees were three years
old, with the financial backing of the
government, a harvester was brought
down from the manufacturer in Bundaberg
for trials. The result was so good John
decided to continue planting out the
whole property with 33,000 K7 varietal
coffee trees, and thus became the first
commercial-sized coffee grower in
subtropical Australia.
John will be remembered for his
tenacity to gain distribution rights for
coffee processing equipment in the Pacific
Rim, and initiate the manufacture of small
coffee pulpers for small landholder coffee
producers, which are now sold in Australia
and across the Pacific.
The Australian subtropical coffee
industry owes a great debt to the vision,
initiative, hard work, and success of Joan
and John and their respective partners.
They helped establish and grow an
industry in the Australian subtropics that
produces coffee comparable to some of
the best and more established growing
regions of the world.Leading legacies
ASTCA
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