Robert Timms (1908 – 1993) was an Australian

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values t ...

and businessman.

Early life

Born in

Hobart Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/ Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...

, Tasmania in 1908, Timms was educated at

Trinity Grammar School, Victoria , motto_translation = Act Courageously , established = 1902 , type = Independent school, Independent, Single-sex school, single-sex, Day school, day and Boarding school, boarding school , denomination ...

. At the age of 15 he began working as a grocery apprentice boy at Moran and Cato, a store his father managed. He showed great sales talent and eventually his commissions from sales of tea and coffee made him the highest paid employee in the company.

Career

After his father retired from the company in 1937, Timms resigned and used the funds from shares he had acquired to purchase the Associated Tea Company. In 1939, J.A.D. Gibson bought Associated Tea Company, renamed it the Victorian Branch of Gibson Tea Pty. Ltd., and invited Timms to stay on as Sales Manager. After the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, Gibson realised wartime conditions and restrictions would make running the Victorian business from Sydney difficult and offered to sell the company back to Timms. Timms accepted and throughout the war he and his employees worked up to 20-hour days to meet demands to provide Australian and

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servicemen with adequate supplies of fresh coffee. During this time Timms was responsible for setting up the very first automated line of fresh coffee making in Australia. In 1951, the company's name was changed to Robert Timms Pty. Ltd. After wartime restrictions were released, the company quickly grew from a Victorian company to a national one. Several important contracts were signed in the 1950s, most notably as the official supplier of coffee for the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games and a contract with

Ansett Airlines Ansett Australia was a major Australian airline group, based in Melbourne, Australia. The airline flew domestically within Australia and from the 1990s to destinations in Asia. After operating for 65 years, the airline was placed into admini ...

which required the development of a special blend of coffee for

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

. This blend, the "Royal Blend," remains one of the most popular blends of coffee ever created in Australia. In the late 1950s Timms introduced self-service coffee grinders into Australian supermarkets. This was seen as an innovative development. Demand for Robert Timms coffee quickly out-stripped supplies and the company opened new plants in

and

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

. In 1964, Timms went to

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torres ...

to inspect coffee planting and production plants which had commenced after World War II. He was so impressed that he became the largest exporter of coffee beans from that country. He then launched his first gourmet blend, "New Guinea Gold". This blend became, and remains, a best seller in Australia. During the 1960s, vacuum sealed packaged American and European coffee became popular in Australia. Timms responded by exporting soluble New Guinea Gold to both the United States and Europe. The

Department of Trade Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military * Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country ...

awarded him the Gold Medal Export Award for his efforts. By 1967, Timms noted the potential in the Australian tea market and negotiated an agreement with the Tetley Tea Company of the United Kingdom. By 1969, with more than 75% of the market share, Robert Timms Pty Ltd was the largest privately owned Australian tea and coffee company. At the height of the company's success, Timms took the opportunity to retire, selling the company to Bechumut Squib, owners of the Tetley Tea Company. Robert Timms coffee remains one of Australia's most famous and popular coffee brands, and is one of the few Australian companies which still blends and roasts its coffee in Australia.

Death

Robert Timms died in 1993 and is survived by one daughter and one grandson.

References

The House of Robert Timms
{{DEFAULTSORT:Timms, Robert 1908 births 1993 deaths Australian company founders Businesspeople from Melbourne People educated at Trinity Grammar School, Kew