Launched 3 years ago, Levista is eyeing expansion in south India, Mumbai and Delhi

Coorg in Karnataka, is among the foremost coffee growing regions in India. SLN, a three-decade old coffee plantation company in the region is now aiming to grab a slice of the Rs 2,200-crore annual packaged coffee market, which is dominated by big players like Nestle (Nescafe), Hindustan Unilever (Bru) and Tata Coffee.

SLN launched its own brand of coffee called Levista three years ago and has ever since expanded to 40,000 retail outlets, predominantly in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. It has now set its sights on expanding across other markets, starting with the rest of south India.

“Of the Rs 2,200 crore market annually, over 80 per cent of the coffee consumption happens in the five southern states and Union territories. Therefore, we aim to reach a significant market share here rather than being sparsely spread all over the place,”  S. Shriram, vice-president sales and marketing at Levista, told THE WEEK.

“At the moment, we have a deep presence in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. We launched our coffee in Goa in February and business is growing steadily. We will be entering the Andhra Pradesh and Telangana market by Sankranti and will penetrate deeper in there. Kerala will follow next.”

The company has the markets of Mumbai and Delhi-National Capital Region on the radar, too, however, it has not finalised a launch date yet, added Shriram.

Levista is also available on online platforms, including Amazon and it is also scaling up on other e-commerce platforms to reach a wider audience.

“Players like Big Basket have also aided our brand coverage, as has Flipkart. We have been recently on boarded through Udaan that reaches small retailers as well as hyperlocal players MilkBasket,” said Shriram.

While south India has a strong tradition of filter coffee, the rest of the country has largely been a tea drinking market. However, things have started changing with penetration of cafes like Cafe Coffee Day and Starbucks in the last decade. International coffee brands like Lavazza are also expanding in the country, buoyed by rising coffee consumption here.

“There is a huge scope for us to grow. The coffee market has been growing steadily. Out of home coffee consumption through cafes has already hit a pan-India presence and thanks to this familiarity, more new consumers are sipping coffee at home, through packaged coffee,” noted Shriram.

Levista’s parent SLN currently has a capacity upwards of 50,000 metric tonne per annum, and Shriram says the company will be able to produce enough coffee for the domestic market as well as for exports.

Talking of exports, the brand is already present in Singapore, Malaysia, Middle East, Maldives and Sri Lanka, reaching out to the south Indian consumers in these markets. The company intends to have a larger international presence next year, added Shriram.

source: http://www.theweek.in / The Week / Home> News> Business / by Nachiket Kelkar / November 20th, 2020

Who on earth would like to miss a morning cup of hot steaming coffee?

Climate change could make about 50-88% of coffee-producing areas unsuitable and lead to an increase in pests and diseases, affecting its production and quality. There is an urgent need for research to save the bean from extinction.

Who on earth would like to miss a morning cup of hot steaming coffee?  Coffee is becoming more popular, especially among the young around the world. Around 2.5 billion cups of coffee are consumed every day. The demand for coffee is projected to by 2050. But the question is: Can coffee supply be sustained?

Coffee is produced in around 70 countries but the dominant among them are Brazil, Vietnam, Columbia, Indonesia, Ethiopia, Honduras and India. Coffee is also the second-most traded commodity after petroleum oil, employing over 125 million people around the world. Most of the coffee grown is made up of two types: Coffea arabica and Coffea robusta, with the former making up 70% of all coffee grown globally.

In India, robusta dominates in terms of production. Karnataka is the dominant state producing coffee in India, accounting for nearly 70% of the total production, followed by Kerala. Together, they account for about 90% of the production. In India, the area under coffee cultivation is 4,16,741 hectares (ha). There are 3,79,697 coffee holdings, out of which most are smallholdings of less than 10 ha in size.

Weather and long-term climate patterns are very critical for growing coffee. Temperature and rainfall conditions are the main drivers determining the yield, production and quality. Altitude is another key factor. Robusta is slightly hardier, as it evolved in lowland equatorial Africa, but grows well in areas with abundant rainfall, which should be well distributed. The optimum temperature range for robusta is 24 to 30°C, but it is less tolerant to very high or very low temperatures. Currently, the annual and seasonal temperature and rainfall variability lead to fluctuations in yield in almost all coffee-growing countries, affecting supply and price.

Climate change is projected to impact all crops, including plantation crops. Changing climate and associated pest and diseases could adversely impact coffee-growing areas. Higher temperatures will not only favour the proliferation of certain pests and diseases but also kill large swaths of insects that pollinate coffee plants. As temperature rises, coffee ripens more quickly, leading to a fall in quality. Rising temperature is expected to make some areas less suitable or completely unsuitable for coffee cultivation.

A recent review of studies in 2020 concluded that all studies based on modelling predict that areas suitable for coffee cultivation could decline by about 50% under moderate climate change projection scenarios by 2050 for both arabica and robusta. Another study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences concludes that the area unsuitable for coffee cultivation could be as high as 88% in Latin America, the dominant producer, by 2050. About half of the land around the world currently used to produce high-quality coffee could be unproductive by 2050, according to a recent study in the journal Climatic Change.

Thus, multiple studies show that climate change will have an extremely negative effect on future coffee production worldwide in terms of suitable cultivation areas, pest and diseases. Howard Schultz, who was the chairman of Starbucks — the largest global coffee chain — till 2017, is quoted to have said, “Climate change is going to play a bigger role in affecting the quality and integrity of the coffee.”

Coffee is a globally traded product and any impact on it in one part of the world will impact the rest, including India. International prices will determine the investment, income and survival of Indian coffee growers. If there is surplus production in Brazil and Columbia, prices in the international market will collapse. This will lead to a decline in market prices for Indian coffee, due to which farmers will experience heavy losses.

Research in India

There is limited research on the impact of climate change on coffee production in India. There are two ways the impact can be assessed: first, by long-term monitoring of changing climate and response of coffee production, which may take decades.

Modelling is another option to project the impact of climate change. There is limited modelling efforts globally and in India, in particular. With the current knowledge, one can conclude that climate change will have serious implications for coffee production and quality. We may have to brace for the disrupted supply of coffee and loss of aroma. According to climate change models, an increase of 20% to 25% in monsoon rainfall is projected for the Western Ghats districts of Karnataka and Kerala, along with the increased occurrence of high-intensity rainfall events. Further, increased warming of around 2 degrees Celsius is projected by the mid-2030s for these districts.

India has a Central Coffee Research Institute under the Coffee Board. Research on developing climate-resilient coffee varieties and cultivation practices would require several years or decades. Further, there is a need for extension service to train farmers in new practices, especially since a majority are smallholdings. In the meantime, coffee growers may need increased protection, price and insurance support from the Government of India and Karnataka.

In response to the risk of climate change on coffee, a global alliance of companies has been formed (‘Coffee and Climate’) with an objective to develop and implement coping strategies and to support smallholders to adapt to climate change, and ultimately to increase the resilience of entire coffee landscapes. Even Starbucks is conducting dedicated research and training of coffee growers in adaptation to climate change. Hope the Coffee Board also takes serious note of the threat of climate change and implement strategies to develop resilient varieties and practices, not only to help coffee growers sustain production, but also to ensure that hundreds of millions of coffee lovers continue to enjoy their morning cup.

(The writer is a retired professor, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru) 

source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> Opinion> Perspective / by N H Ravindranath / April 22nd, 2021