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It became apparent that Robert Jnr had a great talent for sales and he was transferred to the Australian Wholesale Grocery Ltd division of the company.

By the mid 1930's, Robert Jnr was selling tea and coffee so successfully that his commissions made him the highest paid employee in the company.

Senior managers and directors realised that if he continued to progress, his income would outstrip theirs.

They applied pressure to restrict his advancement.When his father retired from the company in 1937, Robert Jnr also left Moran & Cato.

Robert Jnr then sold the shares he had acquired and used the capital to buy the Associated Tea Company.

The company's marketing objectives were to sell tea and coffee to the wholesale grocery distributors in direct opposition to Moran & Cato and other companies like Bushells.

In 1939, Associated Tea's success attracted the attention of a major NSW company - J.A.D. Gibson who made a purchase offer and the partners decided to sell.

It became the Victorian Branch of Gibson Teas Pty Ltd.The Gibson directors wisely offered Robert Timms Jnr the position of Sales Manager, which he accepted.

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In 1939, at the outbreak of War, the Gibson directors foresaw problems in running a Victorian business from Sydney during potential wartime conditions.

After considering their options, they offered to sell the business back to the former partners.

The astute Robert Timms Jnr was the only one to accept the offer, so in January, 1940 he proudly became the sole owner of Gibson Teas Pty Ltd.

With the breakout of World War II, the Federal Government was required to place restrictions to protect both the tea and coffee industries.

During this time, Robert Timms Jnr and his staff worked up to 20 hours a day to meet the demands of supplying fresh coffee to both the Australian and U.S. armed forces.

Coffee making machinery was restricted, but Robert Timms Jnr was innovative, he scoured the market and by utilising a series of small grinders, set up the first fresh coffee making 'automated line' in Australia.

This allowed him to dominate the lucrative wartime market and establish his coffee as Australia's premium fresh coffee.

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In 1945 with the coming of peace, the company was released from the restrictions allowing Robert Timms to concentrate on expanding the business.

The post-war influx of migrants from Europe, particularly those from countries where fresh coffee was a part of every day life, influenced Robert to concentrate on coffee rather than tea.

In 1951, the name of the company changed to Robert Timms Pty Ltd.In this decade, the company expanded rapidly from a purely Victorian company, to a national one and the name became synonymous with high quality fresh coffee.

To meet the existing orders across Australia, fresh coffee was air freighted on a weekly basis to state capitals.

The 50's were excellent for Robert Timms - the company was on the move in Australia and won two major contracts.

In 1954 the Ansett contract required the development of a special blend and equipment for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on her royal visit, so the "Royal Special" blend was born. This became, and still is today, one of the most popular blends ever created.

In 1956, Robert Timms became the official coffee supplier to the Melbourne Olympic Games.

Commentators of the day observed, 'The House of Robert Timms is the foremost roaster and blender of coffee in Australia'. The name Robert Timms had become synonymous with freshness and quality.

This paid handsome dividends in the areas of Catering and Food Services and around this period, Robert Timms gained many lucrative and prestigious accounts such as Snowy Mountains Authority, Ansett, TAA, Coles Cafeterias, David Jones and Southern Cross - Australia's first 5-star hotel.

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During the late 1950's, traditional grocery stores were being superseded by the emergence of supermarkets.

The sales of fresh coffee could have been threatened. Ever innovative, Robert Timms introduced self-service grinders into supermarkets, which opened another lucrative market for his fresh coffee.

This strategy was so successful that a variety of pre-packed beans were soon available, including Royal Special, Mocha Kenya, Jamaican, Brazilian Santos and Budget Blend.

By the end of the decade, demand was so great for Robert Timms fresh coffee that additional roasting plants were set up in Brisbane and Hobart.

Robert Timms Senior died in 1964, confident in the knowledge that his son had the largest coffee company in Australia.

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In 1964, Robert Timms went on an exploratory trip to New Guinea where the planting and production of coffee beans had started to develop since the end of World War II.

Robert Timms was impressed by the high quality of beans and formed a company which became the largest exporter of green coffee beans from that country.

He was able to personally select the best beans available, which he purchased for his own company, and this gave Robert Timms a competitive edge.

Thus was born his most famous expression,

'I would personally sign every bean if I could'.

He used his strong market initiative and his love for beans to develop and launch his first gourmet soluble coffee - the now famous 'New Guinea Gold', which became a best seller in Australia.

In the same year, Moran & Cato found that their business was rapidly declining due to the advent of supermarkets and national chains. They approached Robert Timms to see if he would be interested in purchasing the company. So, 43 years after starting work as an apprentice for Moran & Cato, he bought the company.

Interestingly, he paid the same amount as he had received from the sale of his shares to finance his original purchase of 'Associated Tea".

During this period, American and European ground coffees, packed in vacuum-sealed cans hit the Australian retail market.

Robert Timms reacted by taking them on at their own game, exporting 'New Guinea Gold', pure soluble coffee to both America and Europe.

For these endeavours, he was awarded the Gold Medal Export Award by the Department of Trade.

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Prior to 1967, the State subsidiaries of Robert Timms operated on a laissez-faire basis.

Each of the subsidiaries was operating autonomously, each with its own Managing Director.

Each MD was simply charged with making a profit while maintaining the company image.

This extremely loose control did produce results, as each MD was also a shareholder in the company and therefore anxious to generate profits.

However, opposing this system was a proliferation of different products under numerous names in each of the subsidiaries.

Not surprisingly, situations often develop where that same product was often being sold at a different price.

The growth of the national groups and chains enforced overall marketing standards on a national basis and with this came national budgeting controls.

These changes proved beneficial to all concerned.Robert Timms could see the potential of tea and formed a marketing agreement for Australia with Tetley Tea Co of the UK.

At the time, Bechumut Squib owned Tetley, which had the largest share of the European market for non-tagged tea bags.

The Tetley brand was successfully launched and established by the end of 1968.

By 1969, Robert Timms was the largest privately owned tea and coffee company in Australia and claimed more than 75% of the pure coffee market.

Such a situation was an encouragement for a number of offers to purchase the company.

There were many serious contenders, but in 1969, Bechumut Squib's bid proved successful. In the same year, Robert Timms took the opportunity to resign for family reasons.

Mr Robert Timms spent the next 24 years in retirement until he passed away in June, 1993.

It is worth recalling that during his lifetime, Robert Timms strictly followed three basic principles in his business:

1. Sell a quality product

2. Provide first class service at a fair price

3. Give value for money