Category Archives: Business & Economy

Buried Under Landslides, Coorg’s Coffee Planters Peer Into Oblivion

September 7, 2018About Kodagu / Coorg, Agriculture, Business & Economy, Coffee, Kodagu (Coorg), Famous Personalities of Kodagu / Coorg, Green Initiatives / Environment, Nature, Records, Alladmin

Before the rains started, coffee planters in Coorg were talking of a good crop —the plants were well rested after a lean year and went through the process of blossoming and forming fruits. That settled, seasonal certainty is gone with the wind and merciless lashings of torrential rain.

HELPLESS / A planter contemplates nature’s carnage where once existed a fecund patch / PHOTOGRAPH BY AJAY SUKUMARAN — HELPLESS / A planter contemplates nature’s carnage where once existed a fecund patch /
PHOTOGRAPH BY AJAY SUKUMARAN

A fully-done crossword puzzle is on the table next to Chitra Subbaiah who confesses that she could forego reading the newspaper, but not the crossword. We are in the cottage of a home-stay in Madapura, north Coorg, resplendent in the evening sun—the first day in two months that the rain has let up. It brings some relief from fear. Chitra, nearing eighty, recounts a painful experience with great fortitude. “You have to do some mental jugglery, you know. You can’t curse your fate.” She’s staying in a friend’s cottage because her home, in the neighbouring village of Hattihole, now lies beneath a pile of earth which slid down the hillside, burying everything she owned.

“Wiped out, totally. I don’t have one pin. There is nothing to say there was a house,” she tells Outlook. All she could reach out for in time were her spectacles, medicines and some gold the workers from her coffee estate had entrusted her with safekeeping. The workers’ quarters on her coffee estate too went down. Fortunately, they had time to move out. She points to others in the same situation. “At least I can rent a house and stay. What about so many others, who have nothing,” she asks.

Before the rains started this year, coffee planters in Coorg were talking of a good crop—the plants were well rested after a lean year and went through the process of blossoming and forming fruits.

The scene at a typical Coorg coffee estate / PHOTOGRAPH BY GETTY IMAGES — The scene at a typical Coorg coffee estate /
PHOTOGRAPH BY GETTY IMAGES

That settled, seasonal certainty is gone with the wind and merciless lashings of torrential rain. It rained heavily through July and August in this region of south Karnataka bordering Kerala. Then, in late August, came a series of punishing cascades of sodden earth. Now, there’s a trail of ruin in these charming hills, where landslides have swept off whole villages, re-arranged estates and shattered its economy. With immediate rescue measures tapering off, one question hangs limply in the air: where do you start picking up the pieces?

“I can’t plant anything now on my land, that’s for sure,” says K.U. Erappa, standing in his camouflage gumboots in a relief camp inside Madikeri’s old fort where, grouped with several families, he has been staying for days now. “All that’s left of my coffee plants are just stalks,” Erappa says. His ageing mother walks up to say, “We had a small house, but it was pretty.” Their grief is palpable. Erappa owned a few acres of coffee and paddy in Mukkodlu, one of the hardest-hit places in north Coorg, in the vicinity of district capital Madikeri. Much of Coorg is remote, away from the main-travelled roads. Like others, Erappa has been going back to salvage what he could. His three children, like most kids from his village, have been sent away to a temporary residential facility in a school in Ponnampet town at the southern end of the district. “We never dreamt Coorg would come to this,” says N. Bose Mandanna, a planter from Suntikoppa.

Right now, a full picture of the damage isn’t available, though it is being estimated. Planters like Mandanna reckon that at least 5,000-7,000 acres have been wiped off in the landslides. For the plants still standing, there’s the danger of wet feet and black rot—water-logging at the base of the plant that strangulates it, causing leaves to fall off. “When leaves are lost, next year’s crop is also lost,” says Mandanna. Coorg, with about one lakh hectares in cultivation, accounts for close to 40 per cent of India’s coffee production. The 2017-18 post-blossom estimate was 1,33,500 metric tonnes, most of which is exported, Italy being a top destination. To make matters worse, prices, say market watchers, have been at historic lows. Brazil is harvesting a good crop this year and so will Columbia and Vietnam.

The desolation on the spot after the landslide / PHOTOGRAPH BY AJAY SUKUMARAN — The desolation on the spot after the landslide /
PHOTOGRAPH BY AJAY SUKUMARAN

“International prices have gone (down) to levels last seen in 2006. We are getting a lot less now, if you factor in the inflation,” says Ramesh Rajah, president of the Coffee Exporters Association. Prices depend on the big three producers—Brazil, Columbia and Vietnam—which account for over 70 per cent of the global production. “Only if there are supply shocks in the big three will there be impact in international prices. India can lose one third or even half its production and the international market is not going to blink,” says Rajah.

In the mid-nineties, Coorg coffee saw a boom when prices rose because of a supply shortage in Brazil whose production, apart from being vulnerable to frost, was considered inefficient then. The boom years lasted a decade until trends began to reverse. Owing to hilly terrain, Coorg can’t mechanise the way Brazil did. So, it has been grappling with high labour costs. Nor can other crops be sown, as coffee plants need trees for shade. Many Kodavas, as Coorg’s natives are called, concede the difficulty in maintaining plantations. The symptoms, many say, have been showing—an ageing population, a younger generation that has been migrating to cities and bits of land being sold to meet expenses, the latter contributing to a social churn in the highlands. This devastating blow came on top of all this.

The future, many say, is bleak. First, the question of land lost, by no means an easy task, given the complexities that involve verifying claims, boundaries and so on. “Let the government acquire the property. See the record, settle them,” says planter Mittu Chengappa, who’s also a Karnataka Congress general secretary. His suggestion, that the government acquire private land ravaged by landslides for afforestation so that owners can begin afresh elsewhere, has been voiced by many. Unlike neighbouring Chikmagalur—where coffee was first grown in India—there are more small growers in Coorg, many owning only a few acres.

Chitra Subbaiah’s house in her estate in Hattihole village

Even for those who didn’t lose land, replanting will be a big financial burden, says Rajah. Besides the upfront cost, it would mean a five-year wait for yields. “So, how will they sustain themselves for five years? What does he do about infrastructure within the farm, workers’ houses, his house?” asks Rajah. Coffee planters have always weathered difficult years, but the destruction this year is unprecedented. “Some years, the crop yield is sharply lower because of lack of rain or excess rain. But this is the first time we have actually seen this sort of damage where infrastructure is damaged. It’s going to be very difficult in the short term,” reckons Rajah. In the long term, he says, every producing country is bleeding, so things can be pulled back to a degree by increasing efficiency. Of course, primary rehabilitation remains a priority; the process of replanting will take place slowly.

“The other thing is the labourers are not coming back. We are still in a state of flux, a dilemma as to what’s going to happen. There are a lot of issues, it’s very fluid,” says Nanda Belliappa, a coffee grower from Hattihole who has to now walk half a kilometre inside his property to reach his house, as the road leading to it is blocked. The Hatti, a stream outside his gate—where once a Malayalam film was shot—has beached fallen tree trunks ashore. “The neighbours’ coffee plants and trees are on our road…it’s unbelievable,” says his wife Anitha. In villages in these parts, the conversations go from rain to earthquake—many planters say they heard loud booms and felt tremors, but officials say no seismic event was captured.

Bose Mandanna too says he won’t be so pessimistic as to say that the coffee industry won’t claw back. But he’s doubtful about the prospects of a full recovery in North Coorg. “This area cannot come back in a hurry,” he says. Last weekend, as the evening drew on, Madikeri wore a deserted look—tourism has stalled and hotels are ordered not to take in travellers for some time. “Every night, there’s fear that the hill will come down on your head,” says Mandanna. The Kodava harvest festival Kailpodh, when they worship their guns, went by this week. Says Mandanna, “Nobody was interested in the festival. Coorg has become like a funeral parlour.”

source: http://www.outlook.com / Outlook / Home> The Magazine> Business / by Ajay Sukumaran / September 17th, 2018

Bag by bag: Sudha Murthy toils for Kodagu, Kerala

August 31, 2018Business & Economy, Inspiration / Positive News and Featuresadmin

The Foundation, which is 22 years old now, has dealt with 10 natural disasters, Mrs Murty recounts.

Infosys Foundation chairperson Sudha Murty helps pack relief material for flood-hit Kerala and Kodagu

Bengaluru:

“It’s easy to write a cheque,” declares Sudha Murthy. Far more difficult to dive into the work itself, packing bags and working through the night to personally supervise loading the trucks, as the chairperson of the Infosys Foundation, the company’s philanthropic wing and the city’s conscience keeper found when she threw herself full time into helping the hundreds of the displaced in flood-affected Kodagu and neighbouring Kerala.

Only last week, Mrs Murty found herself lavished with praise from all quarters, after a video of relief kits being prepared at the Foundation went viral. In the video, Mrs Murty doesn’t content herself with overseeing the job, she’s seen actively lending a hand, helping pack 2,000 relief kits which contain everything from rice and dal to biscuits, packaged water, tea and coffee as well as dhotis and sarees, and clothes for children.

“It’s been two weeks of non-stop The kits, which are worth over Rs one crore in total, were sent to Wayanad, Ernakulam and parts of Thiruvananthapuram in four trucks. Flood-hit Kodagu received 25,000 water bottles, steel utensils, buckets and mug, sent to families, slowly returning to normal life in their ravaged homes.

“It’s been two weeks of non-stop work,” an evidently weary Mrs Murty tells Deccan Chronicle on Thursday. “We worked through the night for four or five days, then we crashed for a while.” Twenty of their most dependable staff have been entrusted with the job.

“Too many people will bring down the efficiency,” she says. The 68-year-old author and philanthropist has always maintained a hands-on approach to her social work. The Foundation, which is 22 years old now, has dealt with 10 natural disasters, Mrs Murty recounts. “It needs a lot of experience, really,” she says.

The Infosys Foundation tapped into a vast network of contacts, including the Akshaya Patra Foundation, to help with distribution, which is their biggest worry. The kits have been designed to ensure that they can be distributed to every family with a minimum of discomfort. “We have volunteers on the ground in Kerala as well, for which we looked to our network,” she says. It’s a network she has built, painstakingly, over the last two decades.

“There are three parts to this. Deciding what to send, how to send it there and the distribution process,” Ms Murty said. In Bengaluru, all the action took place at the Bellaku campus. “We have chosen necessities like utensils, clothes, sanitary napkins, tea and coffee apart from food like rice and toor dal and also biscuits. All these are ready for delivery and have been chosen because they can be stored and can withstand the rain in the area. If I send 10 kilos of rice in bulk, who wil see to the distribution?” Work has been happening in full swing for the last two weeks and will come to an end on Saturday.

source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> Nation> Current Affairs / by Darshana Ramdev, Deccan Chronicle / August 31st, 2018

Calamity in coffee country

August 26, 2018About Kodagu / Coorg, Agriculture, Business & Economy, Coffee, Kodagu (Coorg), Famous Personalities of Kodagu / Coorg, Green Initiatives / Environment, Nature, Records, Alladmin

Old-timers and environmentalists blame tourism for the devastating floods in Kodagu

Shattered hopes: As many as 1,206 houses and 278 government buildings were damaged in the Kodagu floods | Bhanu Prakash Chandra

IF THE RAINS had not wreaked havoc in Kodagu, Karnataka’s coffee country would be preparing for ‘Kail Murta’, a festival in which the Kodavas worship their weapons. But, the district, which got battered by flash floods and landslides that took 12 lives and rendered more than 1,500 families homeless, is now left with just one weapon: resilience.

On the midnight of August 15, torrential rains started pounding Kodagu. The hills cracked up and tumbled down, and the rivers swallowed everything on their way—century-old houses, brand-new homestays, tiny tea shops, lush green paddy fields, vast stretches of coffee plantations, forests, livestock, bridges and vehicles. Incessant rains submerged low-lying areas in Kushalnagar, Somwarpet and Madikeri, pilgrimage centres like Talacauvery and Bhagamandala, and major bridges like Bethri, while landslides along the national highways turned those into death traps.

By the time the district administration launched rescue operations, the communication lines were cut off and most villages had become inaccessible. Heavy rains, tough terrain and scattered habitations made rescue operations a daunting task even for the armed forces and the National Disaster Response Force. Many people were hungry and exhausted when the rescue teams finally reached them.

Manu Madappa from Mukkodlu village said around 40 people took refuge in his homestay for three days. But with no help arriving, they decided to trek to Madikeri. “We covered a distance of 20km, walking in the rain on a muddied path, and made it to a relief camp in Madikeri,” he said.

As many as 51 relief centres have been opened across the district, sheltering 7,594 people as on August 22. NGOs have ensured an uninterrupted flow of relief material to these camps. The Kodava Samaj in Bengaluru and Mysuru are the nerve centres for organising relief material.

Local MP Pratap Simha, who was part of the rescue operations, said the devastation was unimaginable. “Incessant rains prevented airlifting of stranded people although three Army choppers were on standby. After I sent an SOS to Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the Army unit from Karwar was rushed in,” he said. “The relief centres are working well, and our next big challenge is rehabilitation. We will need huge cash donations to rebuild homes.” According to the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre, 1,206 houses and 123 kilometres of roads have been damaged, 58 bridges and culverts have collapsed, 278 government buildings and 3,800 electric poles and transformers have been severely damaged.

Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, who conducted an aerial survey, said the infrastructure damage alone amounted to Rs 3,000 crore. “A team of engineers from the Border Roads Organisation and the Army engineering task force have been called in to clear roads and restore them,” said Kumaraswamy. “A team from the National Geophysical Research Institute, Hyderabad, is conducting geotechnical studies to ascertain the causes of landslides. We have deputed two IAS probationers to fasten the process of identifying the lands for rebuilding 2,000 temporary homes.” he said.

The government has promised Rs 3,800 per family, along with essential groceries as immediate relief. The chief minister has promised the affected people work under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act and offered to issue provisional documents for those who have lost their Aadhaar and ration cards and title deeds. “Rs 5 lakh will be given to the family of the deceased. Special classes and books for children are also being planned,” said Kumaraswamy.

The rainfall was unprecedented, but old-timers and environmentalists said the alarming plight of Kodagu was the fallout of the booming tourism industry. G.S. Srinivas Reddy, director of the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre, said Kodagu received 103 per cent more rainfall than normal this year.

U.M. Poovaiah, editor of Brahmagiri, a Kodava weekly, said he had never seen or heard of such devastation in the history of Kodagu. “This is the fallout of unregulated tourism that has razed down the hills to make roads to homestays. The riverbed has been encroached upon. Unplanned construction has pushed the district to the edge. The authorities are to blame for the influx of tourists and atrocities against nature in this once-pristine district. We want unlicensed homestays and construction activity to be stopped,” said Poovaiah.

The Coorg Wildlife Society, too, blamed the severe stress on Kodagu because of the change in land use and unbridled tourism. In a letter sent last May to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the CWS wrote, “Kodagu provides almost 50 per cent of the total inflow into Cauvery, which is the lifeline of South India, and provides water to over 80 million people and 600 major industries across the region. The food, water and economic security of southern India hinges largely on Cauvery River. It is therefore in national interest to preserve the Kodagu landscape and protect its ecosystems.”

Colonel (retd) C.P. Muthanna, president of CWS and co-ordinator of the Save Kodagu and Cauvery campaign, said more than 2,800 acres of paddy fields, coffee plantations and highlands were converted to residential layouts, sites, commercial complexes and resorts between 2005 and 2015. “Kodagu’s fast-paced urbanisation will turn it into a slum,” said Muthanna. Earlier this year, he had urged the Karnataka government to regulate tourism in the region and demanded an audit of water and waste and sewage management in the resorts. “While Kodagu has a population of 5.5 lakh, the number of tourists goes up to 13 lakh,” he said.

A report by the Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, said massive deforestation and monoculture plantations caused the landslides. “Trees hold the top soil and also absorb and regulate the flow of rainwater. But deforestation for construction of roads and power lines have resulted in soil erosion,” said T.V. Ramachandra of the centre. “If the government wants to avert disasters, it should not take up any mega projects.”

source: http://www.theweek.in / The Week / Home> The Week> Cover Story / by Prathima Nandakumar / September 02nd, 2018

Fresh trouble brews for Kodagu coffee growers

August 26, 2018Agriculture, Business & Economy, Coffee, Kodagu (Coorg), Famous Personalities of Kodagu / Coorg, Green Initiatives / Environment, Nature, Records, Alladmin

After rains, coffee planters in Kodagu are gripped by the fear of black rot disease and berry droppings. Spices like black pepper and cardamom produced in the coffee estates have also perished, beside paddy fields being washed away.

The district, which is known for its coffee production worldwide, may have abysmally low coffee and agriculture output this year. The coffee growers, especially small planters, will be hit by the black rot disease, increase in berry droppings and fungal disease to the crop.

Naj Chengappa, a coffee planter, said, “The disease will affect both Arabica and Robusta coffee due to excess rainfall. The most striking symptoms are blackening and rotting of the leaves and tender berries.”

The growers are already worried about falling coffee prices in the past two years. The diseases following the flood will add to their sufferings. Black pepper crop, grown extensively in coffee plantations in the district, also suffers from droppings and fungal diseases. Cardamom is grown in parts of North Kodagu. The crop has suffered heavy damages due to landslides and flood. “Since there is no proper sunlight in Kodagu for almost a month now, this will cause fungal disease to coffee, black pepper and cardamom grown particularly in the North Kodagu areas like Madikeri, Napoklu, and Somwarpet,” said Naj.

According to Kaibulira Harish Appaiah, president of Kodagu Growers’ Association, the rain this year has caused 60% loss for coffee and pepper crops in the district. “Due to rain-related disease to coffee, 98.5% small growers will be affected. The crop requires at least two years to recover from rain-related diseases.” “The government has to waive the loans of farmers and come out with relief packages to compensate for the crop damages,” he said. According to sources in the Horticulture department, an estimated 47,000 hectares of arecanut plantations have been affected due to heavy rain. Arecanut is majorly grown in DK, Uttara Kannada, Kodagu, Chikkamagaluru and Shivamogga. “The rain has caused fungal diseases in arecanut crop, which will affect the output this year,” said Y S Patil, horticulture department commissioner.

source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> State / by Darshan Devaiah B P, DH News Service / Bengaluru – August 22nd, 2018

CFTRI to supply 50,000 meals to Kerala, Kodagu

August 22, 2018Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Inspiration / Positive News and Features, Records, Alladmin

The Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI), which joined Defence Food Research Laboratory (DFRL) in supplying flood-relief food to Kerala and Kodagu, plans to distribute 50,000 meals in the flood-hit regions over the next three to four days.

Relief food material prepared at the CFTRI’s pilot plants as well as manufacturing facilities of local industries, which had taken Institute’s technologies, were sent to Kerala and Kodagu on Sunday and Monday. After supplying 50,000 meals over three-four days, CFTRI will review its operations in terms of supply and product mix, a statement from the Institute said.

The consignments by the CFTRI included rehydrate and consume wheat rava upma and imli poha, chapattis, high-protein biscuits, tomato curry, pickles, jam and chutney, besides water bottles.

All the food products are highly nutritious with a reasonable shelf-life, according to the statement. While the first consignment of 14,500 meals including 3,000 for air-dropping over central Kerala was sent on Sunday, the second consignment was sent on Monday afternoon.

While the food items meant for distribution in Ernakulam/Thiruvananthapuram region of Kerala was airlifted from Mysuru airport in an IAF aircraft along with relief food prepared by DFRL, the food items for Wayanad region in Kerala and Kodagu left by road in separate trucks.

Commissioner of Food Safety, Government of Karnataka, Pankaj Kumar Pandey, and the office of Mysuru MP Pratap Simha had contacted the CFTRI with a request to send relief supplies to the flood-hit regions.

It may be mentioned here that DFRL is also dispatching ready to eat food packets to flood-hit regions of Kerala and Kodagu.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Karnataka / by Special Correspondent / Mysuru – August 21st, 2018

NITK experts to visit Virajpet to inspect road

August 9, 2018Business & Economy, Green Initiatives / Environment, Records, All, Science & Technologyadmin

Technical experts from the Mines and Geology Department, Bengaluru, paid a visit to Virajpet on Monday and inspected the condition of Perumbadi-Makutta-Kootupole Road, which was damaged due to rains.

Experts from the National Institute of Technology, Karnataka, along with the officials of Public Works Department will visit Virajpet on August 7, to inspect the condition of Perumbadi-Makutta-Kootupole Link Road, which was damaged due to the recent rains in the district.

The expert team will give suggestions towards the maintenance of the road and also on safeguarding the passengers plying on the road.

The concerned department will be guided by the team in preparing a scientific design for road construction.

The Karnataka government has sanctioned Rs 6 crore for the permanent maintenance of the road, which connects Kodagu with Kerala. A proposal in this regard was sent by the PWD to the government, along with the submission of an estimate.

A team of technical experts from the Mines and Geology Department, Bengaluru had recently visited the place to inspect the road. The soil from the spot has been collected as a sample for scientific tests and the report on the same is expected.

source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> State> Districts / by DH News Service, Virajpet / August 06th, 2018

Coffee Revolution

August 1, 2018Business & Economy, Coffee News, Records, All, World Opinionadmin

Coffee pubs may be next zingy avatar of buzzing cafes as the country’s young discover the cool quotient of the rich brew.

Forget decaf, now’s the time to get high on coffee. For investors, traders and connoisseurs alike, it’s time to wake up and smell the coffee. It is not yet a mass consumption beverage in India — remember, we are mostly tea-guzzlers — and coffee is being served to those who have arrived.

The world over, coffee rules the beverages market. No wonder it is the second largest traded commodity after crude oil. Although coffee is believed to have arrived in India long before the British got us addicted to tea, it is only in the last couple of decades that cafes and the instant variety have evangelised it beyond the south of this country. Ironically, down south, where coffee has long ruled the roost, tea is also emerging as the morning cuppa. For a highly prized commodity, coffee has had its ups and downs in the global commodities market. And, at US $500 per kilogram, going through (civet) excreta was actually a high — civet coffee is made out of coffee beans eaten and excreted by civets.

A coffee story can’t be narrated without invoking India’s staple beverage, tea, multiple times. We have been a tea land from British times and coffee, by and large, remained a privilege and pride of south India for hundreds of years. The cafe culture that began to kick in some 10 years ago has, to an extent, disrupted the traditional and regional divide between tea and coffee at least in the metros and small towns.

Coffee is said to have been introduced to India by a Muslim saint, Baba Budan, who smuggled seven coffee beans from Yemen and took them to Mysore. Later he cultivated coffee out of these beans on Chandragiri Hills, also called Baba Budan Giri now. India’s total area under coffee cultivation is almost 400,000 hectares, with Karnataka alone accounting for over 70 per cent of the production while the rest comes from Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

The country’s organised coffee retailing was started by Bangalore-based cafe chain Cafe Coffee Day in 1996. By the time Uncle Sam’s much celebrated cafe chain Starbucks forayed into the country in 2012, coffee culture had already set in. Barista Coffee Co Ltd, Costa Coffee and others too came in. All these cafes have ushered in the experiential proposition to coffee drinking, with an attractive, relaxed and cosy ambience accompanied by an assortment of food items.

Waiting in the wings

Italy’s Elli and Lavazza, global brands that are already active in the Indian coffee market with roasting and blending, and many other foreign cafe brands are waiting in the wings to land in the cafe business in this country. Cafe Coffee Day’s 1,722 outlets and around 600 coffee kiosks serve over a billion cups of coffee in six countries while Starbucks has 120 stores across seven cities in India and the chain serves close to 250,000 customers every week with brews of French press, pour over, siphon, chemex and white eagle. Barista has around 50 stores around the country and the brand currently focuses on opening up more cafes through franchisee route.

All the players are aggressively trying to expand their chains across the country. India’s coffee retail industry is projected to experience its fastest growth so far between 2018 and 2025, said a recent Grand View Research. Coffee chains market was valued at $128.6 million in 2016 and its growing at a CAGR of 20 per cent. “After all who on earth can ignore over a billion lips? We always had coffee stalls and coffee houses operated out of staid and dull environs. Only coffee fanatics frequented these places. Once the cafe era set in and vibrant cafes with great ambience came up, India’s cafe scene started buzzing. Coffee no doubt remains a more frequently used conversation starter than tea,” said Himu Gowda, a young coffee grower and coffee enthusiast of Rajarajeshwari Estate, Chikmagaluru.

How did the cafe culture of the West and Europe start sweeping across India? There are millions of Indian professionals working in these geographies around the globe in the last few decades. In addition to that, India’s knowledge economy created a large army of techies and other professionals who often travelled to the West and Europe on work. Again, close to 30 million Indians travel overseas — UN World Tourism Organization predicts this figure to cross 50 million by 2020 — on leisure and they are exposed to cafe culture in various countries. So for many Indians, names like Cafe Central (Vienna), San’t Eustachio il Caffe (Rome), La Cafeotheque (Paris), Winkel (Amsterdam), Toma Cafe (Madrid), Kaffeine (London), Caffe Vita (Seattle), Reslau (Auckland), Double Tall (Japan) and several other famous cafes in Melbourne, Reykjavik (Iceland), Singapore, Istanbul in Turkey, Vancouver in Canada, Portland (US), Wellington (New Zealand), Havana in Cuba are familiar.

The key drivers of India’s cafe revolution are: increasing disposable income, influence of western culture, sudden spurt in outbound travel, rapid urbanisation, boom in tech jobs, exposure to foreign cafe brands and acceptance of coffee as a premium beverage. Today, coffee as a bean beverage has been able to capture either a mindshare or a market share from a large portion of Indian population. As a result, cafes have emerged as ideal venues for daily conversations, socialising, work interactions, entertainment and the actual unwinding of the mind with a cup of quality brew. Also, the number of coffee enthusiasts, evangelists and hardcore coffee fans are on the rise in the country, with coffee emerging as a versatile beverage.

Sudheer Gopinath, 35, a techie who worked in the US and many European countries at client sites over a decade said, “Cafes are a big thing in the US and Europe. They transport you to a different world. They may be buzzing with music and chit chats…still you’ll find your quiet corner. India didn’t have such quality cafes until 10 years ago, but today our cafes are almost on par with cafes across the world.”

Arunachalam, a 65-year-old migrant labourer from Tamil Nadu and a self-confessed coffee addict has not had tea in 40 years. “I pass by cafes to capture the aromas emanating out of them. I simply love it. I can never afford a coffee there. Even if I decide to spend Rs 100 per coffee, I may not be allowed inside these five star cafes as I don’t have decent shoes and pants and I speak no English. I love my home made kattan kappi (black coffee) and two meter coffee from the roadside stall which costs only Rs 10,’’ he said and laughed loudly, revealing a set of tobacco-stained teeth.

High growth

According to a report on coffee retailing by Grand View Research, the Indian coffee retail chain business witnessed tremendous growth in recent times as outlets are gaining popularity as hangout zones. The increased acceptance of coffee, attributed to the emergence of premium cafes like Cafe Coffee Day, Tata Starbucks, Boutonniere Hospitality operated Barista, Bedfordshire-based Costa Coffee, promoted by Devyani International in India and others fuelled the market growth.

The coffee retail shops in India are popular hangouts for those between group 16 and 45-years-old, the report said, adding: “The youth of the country has developed greater inclination towards coffee which previously favoured tea. Reading, working, or just casual discussion in the coffee shops is a usual sight. The complementary services provided by the coffee shops such as free WiFi, music, and others have succeeded to retain customer footfall in the shops.”

Techies and social media enthusiasts Pratik Choudhari and Arvind Jain recently launched an app-based startup venture. “Most of our ideation talks, preparation of business plans, pre and post launch debates and discussions happened in cafes. Even now we work out a cafe, we don’t have an office,” they said.

Global exposure and rapid urbanisation along with increasing disposable incomes have created the ground for modern coffee retail outlets offering premium coffee and variants costing more. Moreover, lifestyle preference influenced by the western world has created opportunities for the key players to witness tremendous growth and success. Foreign investment in India’s coffee retail sector has increased in recent years.

For US cafe chain Starbucks, India is one of the most exciting markets in the world with a diverse and dynamic culture. The discerning Indian consumer is well-travelled and well-informed, and appreciates quality experience. Interestingly, India has seen the fastest rollout of stores in the first five years of operation in Starbucks’ history in any new market.

Veetika Deoras, head, marketing, category and loyalty, Tata Starbucks (a joint venture of Tata Global Beverages and Starbucks) said that in India, coffee consumption is on the rise and coffee is slowly becoming a tool for self-expression. This perfectly ties in with the mission of Starbucks where it inspires and nurtures the human spirit — one person, one cup and one neighbourhood at a time.

“Starbucks believes in building a ‘third place experience’ and our stores are neighbourhood gathering places for meeting friends and family. Our customers enjoy quality service, an inviting atmosphere and an exceptional beverage. We are passionate about delivering the highest quality coffee house experience to customers and believe that every moment is a moment of connection and recognition.”

“Coffee as a beverage is loved by traditional coffee drinkers and the younger audience. Coffee today is a part of one’s routine, it has social connotations, and affection towards coffee goes beyond age or gender. Constant innovation is a testament to the growing appetite for a deeper exploration of coffee among Indians. We are humbled by the way customers have embraced Starbucks and have begun to make it a part of their daily ritual,’’ she adds.

At Starbucks, innovation is the core. It is always innovating customer experience whether it be with beverage, store design, community impact. Meeting this need for innovation is Nitro Cold Brew, a naturally sweet nitrogen-infused coffee, which takes 48 hours of making. Its heightened coffee craft, which allows customers to enjoy small-batch, slow-steeped coffee which is brewed using an interplay of coffee, water, temperature and time. Starbucks Coffee Company has a 47-year history of sourcing, roasting and serving high-quality Arabica coffee.

Coffee is no new romance for its local partner Tata Coffee. The seeds of Tata Coffee’s estates were sown more than 150 years ago by resilient planters who brought coffee to the hills of Coorg in the then state of Mysore in South India. The land, the weather and the people came together to create what are today some of the finest coffees in the world. “Today, we produce some of the best Arabicas and Robustas in the country, in Washed and Natural offerings. Our coffees are shade grown in our own Rainforest Alliance, UTZ and SA 8000 certified estates, among lush forests in a thriving ecosystem, teeming with biodiversity. We handpick the coffees and delicately process them to bring about the intrinsic romance in every cup. Every step of the cultivation, harvest and processing is handled with an utmost emphasis on sustainability,” said an official at Tata Coffee.

The ‘best coffee’

India is the only country in the world that grows coffee under the shade of dense rain forests today. The country grows the best quality coffee, including several specialty varieties. It has been exporting all its surplus coffee for decades, which is almost 85 per cent of its total produce.

Anil Kumar Bhandari, president, India Coffee Trust, said, “Despite this exclusivity, Indian coffees are not able to command a premium in the global markets because we have not yet built a brand for it. So the need of the hour is to build a sophisticated campaign for our coffee for the domestic and international market. It is also extremely critical that we develop a strong domestic market so that our coffees can be insulated from global market vagaries and price volatilities. Our cafes are doing a good job in creating a passion for the bean based beverage in the country.”

The irony is that coffees from Central American countries, South American countries, Kenya and Ethiopia are getting a premium in the global markets although none of these countries grow superior quality coffee like India does. During fiscal 2017-18, India exported coffees worth around Rs 6,000 crore, that’s the basic price the India produce fetched at the New York Futures Exchange. “We have the potential to double the value, with the same quantity of exports, if we are able to position our coffee under specialty and premium varieties and not as bulk commodity sold at the basic price,” said Bhandari. “The Ministry of Commerce should set up a special focus group for coffee, involving all stake holders in the industry, to create a profile, brand and a sophisticated communication for Indian coffee at home and outside. The government also has to sanction a fund to build a brand. All these are required to enhance the profile of Indian coffee in the global markets and also increase its domestic consumption,” he added.

Domestic consumption

To improve domestic consumption, the largest producer of coffee in the world, Brazil, has done something very smart. It introduced coffee in a school mid-day meal scheme about 10 years ago. It was like catching them young, and when this generation grew up, instead of visiting pubs and taking to drugs, they frequented cafes. This gave a big push to domestic coffee consumption.

Rohith Rajagopal, owner of Kerehuchloo Estate, Mudigere, Chikmagalur, said, “India can take this path, we in fact have the world’s best coffee to serve in schools for free. We should also make coffee more affordable and easily accessible. The industry players and the Coffee Board should take the initiative to make coffee decoction or liquid sachets available in the market.”

Chitralekha Rohith, a coffee enthusiast and also a coffee planter at Mudigere, Chikmagalur said, “We have a lot of people and friends visiting our gardens round the year. After seeing the green environment where coffee is grown and how it is cultivated, most of them return home with a newfound respect for this southern Indian beverage.”

Coffee Board chairman Boje Gowda said India consumes less than a third of its coffee production. The rest of the coffee is exported mostly to Europe and Russia. “In our country, per capita coffee consumption is too low, we are nowhere in comparison to major coffee consuming geographies. The consumption here is mostly restricted to coffee producing states. This has to change and coffee should become a pan India beverage.”

“The practice of making chicory mixed coffee should be legally banned. Nobody is saying chicory is bad, in fact it has health benefits, though not as much as coffee. But let chicory be sold as chicory and coffee as coffee. Using chicory to adulterate coffee and calling the final product coffee is an unethical practice,” said Rajagopal.

Specialty coffee & single estate brands

India has several specialty coffees and estate brands while many more are in the making. Some estates are spending a lot of money in developing and marketing these brands globally. The cuppers, graders and tasters and others are trying to tell a story, about the origin of a particular coffee, though Indian green coffee on its own is capable of fetching premium prices in the global markets.

Tata Coffee’s Nullore estate microlot became the first Indian microlot to be selected by Starbucks Reserve, Seattle. The feat was repeated by its Yemmigoondi estate microlot this year. Tata Coffee also produces other specialty varieties like monsooned coffees and single-estate coffees. Also Tata Coffee is the first Indian organisation to be part of the Sustainable Coffee Challenge, a global sustainability initiative anchored by Starbucks and Conservation International.

Keeping in mind the global trend of ethically grown specialty coffees, the company developed a microlot programme — which is less than 0.1 per cent of its total green bean production — using the absolute best of its production. With highly selective picking and innovative processing methods, these coffees have graced some of the most discerning specialty coffee roasters across the world, say officials at Tata Coffee.

Dr Sunalini Menon, Asia’s first woman professional in the field of coffee cupping (tasting), a coffee quality control expert and founder of Bangalore-based Coffeelab, said, India grows the best coffee in the world and therefore it is placed at a great vantage position in terms of specialty coffees that can fetch great premiums in the international markets, but it comes with a responsibility. Specialty coffee is exclusive, exotic and unique as its origin is traced back to the bean it came from, the coffee plant it belongs to and to the estate it was grown on. The cultivar and terroir of a bean or coffee plant is well explained in black and white. All information related to seed and soil conditions, cultivation, fertilisation, harvesting, post harvesting processes, storage, packaging and shipping methods are made available to the consumer in detail.

India’s Monsooned Malabar (both Arabica and Robusta), Mysore Nuggets extra bold (Arabica) and Robusta Kappi Royle are India’s specialty varieties, developed by the Coffee Board. Tata Coffee, Allana Sons, Cafe Coffee Day and many others have coffee units on coastal areas of Karnataka and Kerala where sea wind, moisture, rain and special humidity conditions are available to cure specialty coffee Monsooned Malabar that offers a mild, mellow, soft and silky brew. KD Thimmaiah, general manager, Coffee Division, Aspinwall & Co, Mangalore, India currently exports over 5,000 tonnes (4000 Arabica and over 1000 tonnes of Robusta) of Monsooned Malabar, of which his company has a share of around 60 per cent.

The specialty coffee segment in the country has been growing at 5 per cent annually and it fetches up to 20 per cent premium in the global markets compared to standard coffee. Some of India’s estate coffee brands that are making waves in the domestic and international markets include Veer Athikan, Temple Mountain, Papakuchi, Jal, Taste of Freedom, Harley Estate Classic, Butter Cup Bold, Balanoor Bean, Monsooned Mellows, Monsooned Mystique, Riverine Coffee, Estate Craft and Halli Berri.

Growers’ woes

Coffee is a colourful industry. It comes with flavours and biodiversity. The green bean is the master and plays a critical role in the global markets. But all these come for a huge price paid exclusively by the growers. “Sudden uptick in growing cost, labour shortage, constant fall in prices, erratic rainfall and climate change, pests, increase in fertiliser prices are some of the key issues that are plaguing coffee estates,” said Coffee Board chairman, Gowda.

Nanda Belliappa, Vice president Karnataka Growers’ Federation, Committee member at Coorg Planters’ Association and also former member of Coffee Board, said, “Global warming, erratic rains, depredation by pests, apathy by central government and Coffee Board have in the last 25 years sent coffee cultivation and income into a tailspin that we growers will take a long time to recover from.”

Outbreak of pests and diseases due to global warming and weather-related issues have made Arabica coffee virtually impossible to cultivate and so farmers are converting their fields into Robusta which is hardier and not susceptible to pests and diseases. Coupled with the vagaries of nature, labour wages have gone up, input cost are up, cost of manure and fertilisers are also up and overall cost of cultivation per acre has gone up multiple times, Belliappa added. There are about two lakh coffee growers in the country and the coffee industry supports over 10 lakh people directly and indirectly by the coffee industry.

Price situation

Over production and bumper crops are always a price spoiler. The International Coffee Report said that during 2018/19, Brazil coffee crop is expected to be 53.2 million 60 kilo bags, 14.9 per cent more than last year. Colombia reported a coffee production of over 15 million bags, sharply up against the projection of over 13 million. Colombia is planning to increase its annual coffee harvest to 17 million 60 kg bags in 2030. Again, Honduras is expected to have a bumper crop of Arabica coffee. Excess coffee production from leading coffee growing countries like Brazil, Colombia, Vietnam and Indonesia has caused an oversupply with the prices of the commodity falling by about 30 per cent in the global markets.

India’s coffee exports reached an all-time high of 3.95 lakh tonnes in 2017-18 as compared to 3.53 lakh tonnes a year ago. The country’s coffee shipments have risen 12 per cent in volumes during the first half of calendar 2018 over last year on good demand from traditional buyers such as Italy and Germany. In value terms, the exports were up by over 7 per cent, both in rupee and dollar terms.

source:http://www.mydigitalfc.com

Tennis star Rohan Bopanna forays into fitness business, here is what he launched

July 31, 2018Business & Economy, Famous Personalities of Kodagu / Coorg, Sportsadmin

Bopanna said India is a potential market for CT and that he would like to open such initiatives in other cities as well.

India’s doubles tennis star Rohan Bopanna today announced his foray into sports-inspired fitness business with the launch of ‘Cardio Tennis.’

Cardio Tennis is a group cardio-workout, combining the best features of tennis and cardiovascular exercises to create an invigorating, full-body, high-intensity workout, with music and fitness drills along with innovative tennis games.

Bopanna said India is a potential market for CT and that he would like to open such initiatives in other cities as well.

He, however, did not reveal the size of investment he made into this venture.

“In fact, I have put almost all the money into it,” he told reporters here.

The tennis star had earlier launched a range of speciality coffees – Rohan Bopanna’s Master Blend – in association with city-based micro roastery and cafe – The Flying Squirrel – in January.

Bopanna, who was World Number Three in ATP ranking in 2013, said he hopes to take both tennis and fitness to people with the help of CT.

“One of the most exciting aspects of this regimen is that it is heart-rate monitored and a detailed performance report is sent to each participant at the end of every session,” Meraki Sport & Entertainment MD Ajit Ravindran said.

CT is licensed in India Bopanna and Meraki Sports and Entertainment.

Apart from regular sessions at key locations, Meraki’s role would be to reach out to corporates and the IT sector across India, Ravindran said.

CT (India) Director Harsha Thimmaiah said it is open to participants of all ages, and varying levels of tennis proficiency.

A CT session runs for about 50 minutes, where participants can expect to burn about 500-600 calories on an average, with four different segments, he said.

“We can accommodate up to 12-14 participants per session and can conduct back-to-back or parallel sessions, based on the infrastructure available,” Thimmaiah said.

A CT session can also be conducted in areas other than a tennis court, ranging from a large hall to a playground and football turfs, he added.

CT is very popular in the US, UK and Australia.

The programme is held over weekends at the Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association and will soon be available at key locations across the city in the next two to three months.

source: http://www.financialexpress.com / Financial Express / Home> Industry / by PTI, Bengaluru / July 29th, 2018

Coffee needs a boost from the government

July 31, 2018Business & Economy, Coffee News, Leadersadmin

Guest Column: Harish bijoor, brand expert

Typically, coffee in India has been a beverage that has had a deeper connect in the south of the country, with literally no, or anecdotal connect in the north of the Vindhyas. This was the story of the past. Then came the liberalisation wave, the early 90s, when the free sale quota for individual planters came by. Earlier, coffee was a controlled commodity and growers could sell their beans only through a pooling system via the Coffee Board. The free system opened up the markets in the country and across the globe. Planters were now free to market their produce anywhere they wanted. And they did. A few did a brilliant brand game in the market, and the leader of the pack was VG Siddhartha, the founder and owner of country’s home-grown cafe chain Cafe Coffee Day. Others followed.

Instant coffee players such as Nestle and HUL had always been at the cutting edge of creating consumption in non-traditional markets. They continued in the game. Brands such as Nescafe, Bru and Sunrise criss-crossed consumption patterns in all regions of the country. However, till the mid-90s, coffee consumption was largely in solid form, in the form of packaged filter or instant coffee. Tata Coffee, Nestle and HUL were pioneers in the respective spaces of pure filter, chicory mixed filter, pure instant and mixed instant coffees.

With serial entrepreneur Siddhartha from Karnataka starting off Cafe Coffee Day with its first outlet on Brigade Road (which celebrates 22 years this month), Indian coffee was moving into its LIQUID era. And this has been the single most dominant strategic shift that Indian coffee saw in years. Cafe Coffee Day was pioneering the concept of the cafe style, which Starbucks had revolutionised in the US and in parts of Europe. With this, Indian coffee had two avatars: the SOLID in packet form and the LIQUID in the cafe at the corner form.

Coffee Cafes

That was the start point. Cafe Coffee Day started the cafe revolution in India in 1996. I remember being there at the first cafe on Day 1 which was really a Cyber-Cafe for a start with spanking new desktops and coupons of Rs 30 per hour being sold. I remember buying a T-shirt which I still possess and wear. It says proudly, “do Caffeine”!

Coffee today is about both solid and liquid. The liquid form is available at cafes of every kind all across the country and the solid form has a demand that is better, thanks to the liquid evangelist cafes doing their job quietly, but surely!

Yes, consumption of coffee in India is still small, and just no match for tea, but we have travelled long distances in these 22 years!

There is a lot of love for coffee in this country and that’s only growing. But coffee is an island drink. In an ocean of tea-consumers, coffee occupies a small fraction of space. Coffee was and is therefore a niche drink. A special drink even. Tea is easy to make, coffee is that much more difficult. Coffee was shared when special guests came home. Coffee meant bonding that was different. Young people embraced coffee as the most fashionable and happening drink to be seen with. It suddenly became young, from being fuddy-duddy. The environment of swanky cafes added zing and fizz to it all.

There are many more elements helping the South Indian brew to go mainstream from the staid and dull environs of Indian coffee houses to vibrant and buzzing coffee restos. Private players added big value. The Indian Coffee House of the Coffee Board had become more like a buzzing canteen where the middle-aged and the old congregated. The cafe to that extent adopted the avatar of the pub for the young. The coffee pub even! This added hangout value, fashion-tinges and more. Differentiation of the drink, niche-value, multiple flavours served etc brought in uncommon value and more takers for the Indian cuppa.

Big Challenge

Having said all this, domestic consumption still is a big challenge for India. The country is failing in promoting coffee as a beverage. There is a need for institutional involvement in this space. Instant coffee itself has big potential. The Government of India needs to adopt coffee as a drink of the future. The Coffee Board is a nodal body. I have been a member on it for five years and know the kind of work the board does in terms of plantation work, R&D and maintenance. The board needs to get a lot more front-ended in its work than it is today. It needs to adopt coffee promotion at the front end of consumption as its primary role.

The government, Coffee Board and the industry should not forget the fact that coffee growing is a tough job and growers need to be acknowledged for their hard work and their contribution to the economy. Karnataka alone accounts for almost 80 per cent of the country’s entire coffee production. Over 200,000 growers are involved in coffee and each grower faces every problem there is to pick. Costs are going

up while realisations are not. In fact, prices are only falling. Labour is getting to be expensive and maintenance of estates is a big-cost exercise. Cost of production overall is on the rise. Coffee goes through cycles of prosperity in terms of prices and doom in terms of prices as well. But, we hope to see domestic consumption increasing and cafe culture catching up, not just across metros and tier-I and II cities but also in tier-III cities, smaller towns and villages across the country. As of now, almost 85 per cent of our coffee is exported, a forex earning of around $10 billion per annum. Only a strong domestic market can insulate Indian bean from the price volatilities and related pressures in the global markets.

The author is the founder of Harish Bijoor Consults Inc, formerly head of Consolidated Coffee (Currently Tata Coffee) and a former Coffee Board member)

source: http://www.mydigitalfc.com / Financial Chronicle – Mydigitalfc.com / by Guest Column : Harish Bijoor, Brand Expert / Julyu 2018

Chasing the Cauvery

July 31, 2018Agriculture, Business & Economy, Green Initiatives / Environment, Natureadmin

Side by side: The Cauvery (left) and the Kollidam at the Kambarasampettai check dam near Srirangam in Tiruchi. PHOTO: M. MOORTHY — Side by side: The Cauvery (left) and the Kollidam at the Kambarasampettai check dam near Srirangam in Tiruchi.
PHOTO: M. MOORTHY

Broad, menacing and gushing, the river has gained new life aided by a generous southwest monsoon

Originating as a small spring at Talacauvery in the Brahmagiri Hills of Kodagu district in Karnataka and through its 802-km journey before emptying into the Bay of Bengal at Poompuhar on the Coromandel coast, the Cauvery evokes strong emotions, both sublime and mundane. The generous monsoon this year has infused new life into the river. All the major dams in Karnataka (Krishnaraja Sagar, Hemavathi, Kabini and Harangi) are brimming over. With the combined rate of outflow from the reservoirs being 75,000 cusecs to 1,00,000 cusecs, the Cauvery, barely visible in summer, is now a river in spate.

Among the more popular sights on its course is the Abbey Falls in Madikeri, where a few natural streams jump off the cliff and join the river downstream. The Lakshmantirtha, a bigger tributary originating from Brahmagiri, jumps down the cliffs in a series of rapid falls from a height of nearly 170 feet to form the Iruppu Falls and snakes through the Nagarahole tiger reserve before merging with the Cauvery at the Krishnaraja Sagar. Meandering and gliding along through the rough and rocky terrain, the Cauvery splits into two and forms the riverine island of Shivanasamudra and presents the breathtaking sight of the Gaganachukki and Bharachukki segmented falls, plummeting from a height of 320 feet (and almost a 1,000 feet wide) with a deafening roar before hitting the rocky gorge below releasing clouds of vapour and foam.

It is at the Hogenakkal falls that the river tumbles down, after traversing for 64 km along the inter-State boundary. The river spreads into the Mettur Dam in Salem district, the largest in Tamil Nadu with a capacity of 93.47 thousand million cubic feet. From Mettur, the river proceeds south and turns eastward.

At the Upper Anicut, or Mukkombu (which is about 15 km above Tiruchi), the Cauvery splits into two, with the southern branch retaining the original name and the other, known as Coleroon (Kollidam in Tamil), and drains into the sea near Portonovo (Parangipettai) in Cuddalore district.

Text by R. Krishnakumar and T. Ramakrishnan

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Tamil Nadu / July 29th, 2018

Kodagu First

a Celebration. Positive News, Facts & Achievements about Kodagu, Coorgs and the People of Kodagu – here at Home and Overseas