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Chicory in Selwyn
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TitleChicory: a cash crop of the 1880s: exhibition at Te Ara Ātea (2023)
DescriptionOn the edge of the Selwyn border sits Trent’s Estate Vineyard and wedding venue in Templeton. 150 years ago, it was the site of a bustling chicory farm.
Chicory is a flowering plant with a large root, which, when dried, roasted, and ground, was used as a coffee substitute until instant coffee was invented in the 1960s. In colonial New Zealand, chicory and coffee essence was a popular hot drink, commonly mixed with sweetened condensed milk.
In 1866, Edwin Trent purchased 150 acres of land on what is now Trents Road. The ground here was not suited to traditional farming, but the dry, sandy soil proved ideal for chicory. Employing up to 40 workers seasonally, the farm included a complex of drying kilns, root storage houses, machinery rooms and a warehouse. From here, the chicory root was transported to central Christchurch by horse and cart, where it was processed at Trent’s Steam Coffee Mill.
Trent was the first person to grow chicory in Australasia. From 1866 until his death in 1883, he developed his operation into one of the most successful export businesses in Canterbury.
Trent’s Estate today is now a functions venue, a brick barn that was rebuilt after the devastating fire. To the right of the main doors is a stone carved with a phoenix and the date ‘1873’.
Exhibition Objects
Chicory root (replica)
Chicory is a leafy, perennial herb with a long taproot, grown today mostly for medicinal purposes, or as animal fodder in drought-prone areas. The leaves can also be eaten as salad greens. Original root courtesy of Solleveld Produce, Masterton.
Trent’s spice packets
Edwin Trent’s brothers, James and Frederick, expanded the family business in the 1870s, becoming ‘Trent Bros., manufacturers of Chicory, Pepper, Coffee, Spices’. This eventually became Trent’s NZ Coffee and Spice Co. Ltd, a well-known New Zealand brand into the 20th century. These spice packets date from the 1930s-60s, and still contain their original spice contents. On loan from Trent’s Estate Vineyard.
Trents coffee and chicory essence bottle, from about 1950s. A popular mid-century pantry staple, used to flavour baking recipes, such as coffee cake.
Although not nearly as popular as it once was, chicory coffee can still be purchased from supermarkets or health food stores, as a caffeine-free hot drink, or a flavour additive for baking.
Images
A watercolour illustration of Trent’s chicory farm at Templeton. You can see the kilns and root stores in the background on the left, and Trent’s homestead ‘Clifton Grange’ to the right. Courtesy of Trent’s Estate Vineyard.
Watercolour illustration of the chicory drying kilns on Edwin Trent’s farm. The original complex was destroyed by a fire in 1873. Within a year, Trent had not only rebuilt, but also expanded his operation. Courtesy of Trent’s Estate.
Date2023SourceExhibition in agriculture case on level 1 of Te Ara ĀteaPhotographerMichelle Sim
DescriptionOn the edge of the Selwyn border sits Trent’s Estate Vineyard and wedding venue in Templeton. 150 years ago, it was the site of a bustling chicory farm. Chicory is a flowering plant with a large root, which, when dried, roasted, and ground, was used as a coffee substitute until instant coffee was invented in the 1960s. In colonial New Zealand, chicory and coffee essence was a popular hot drink, commonly mixed with sweetened condensed milk.
In 1866, Edwin Trent purchased 150 acres of land on what is now Trents Road. The ground here was not suited to traditional farming, but the dry, sandy soil proved ideal for chicory. Employing up to 40 workers seasonally, the farm included a complex of drying kilns, root storage houses, machinery rooms and a warehouse. From here, the chicory root was transported to central Christchurch by horse and cart, where it was processed at Trent’s Steam Coffee Mill.
Trent was the first person to grow chicory in Australasia. From 1866 until his death in 1883, he developed his operation into one of the most successful export businesses in Canterbury.
Trent’s Estate today is now a functions venue, a brick barn that was rebuilt after the devastating fire. To the right of the main doors is a stone carved with a phoenix and the date ‘1873’.
Exhibition Objects
Chicory root (replica)
Chicory is a leafy, perennial herb with a long taproot, grown today mostly for medicinal purposes, or as animal fodder in drought-prone areas. The leaves can also be eaten as salad greens. Original root courtesy of Solleveld Produce, Masterton.
Trent’s spice packets
Edwin Trent’s brothers, James and Frederick, expanded the family business in the 1870s, becoming ‘Trent Bros., manufacturers of Chicory, Pepper, Coffee, Spices’. This eventually became Trent’s NZ Coffee and Spice Co. Ltd, a well-known New Zealand brand into the 20th century. These spice packets date from the 1930s-60s, and still contain their original spice contents. On loan from Trent’s Estate Vineyard.
Trents coffee and chicory essence bottle, from about 1950s. A popular mid-century pantry staple, used to flavour baking recipes, such as coffee cake.
Although not nearly as popular as it once was, chicory coffee can still be purchased from supermarkets or health food stores, as a caffeine-free hot drink, or a flavour additive for baking.
Images
A watercolour illustration of Trent’s chicory farm at Templeton. You can see the kilns and root stores in the background on the left, and Trent’s homestead ‘Clifton Grange’ to the right. Courtesy of Trent’s Estate Vineyard.
Watercolour illustration of the chicory drying kilns on Edwin Trent’s farm. The original complex was destroyed by a fire in 1873. Within a year, Trent had not only rebuilt, but also expanded his operation. Courtesy of Trent’s Estate.
Date2023SourceExhibition in agriculture case on level 1 of Te Ara ĀteaPhotographerMichelle SimConnections
Collection2023 Heritage Exhibitions at Te Ara Ātea
Attribution
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Chicory in Selwyn (2023). Selwyn Stories, accessed 26/05/2026, https://selwynstories.selwynlibraries.co.nz/nodes/view/5592