Category Archives: Coffee News

How many coffees are really in your cup?

Coffee News, Coffee, Kodagu (Coorg), World Opinion

India is the seventh-largest producer of coffee beans in the world. Some varieties are so prized abroad, you’d be hard pressed to find a cup here. Take a look at six of the most special Indian beans.

Drinking coffee used to be a simple matter of instant or filter. When Café Coffee Day and Barista first began to spread at the turn of the millennium, we began to be able to tell our lattes from our cappuccinos, but we still know more about where our wine comes from, than our brew.

India is currently the seventh largest producer of coffee in the world, and there are Indian coffees so sought-after by foreign markets that they’re hard to find here at home. According to the Coffee Board of India (CBoI), we produce about 3.1 lakh tonnes of coffee beans a year. Most, and the best, of it is exported to Italy, Germany and Russia. “About 75 per cent is exported,” says Babu Reddy, deputy director of market research at the CBoI.

There are 13 major coffee-growing regions in the country, Coorg and Chikmagalur in Karnataka being the largest. Coffee is also grown in parts of Orissa, Andhra Pradesh and the north-east.

Six Indian varieties have recently been awarded the Geographical Indicator (GI) tag by the Government of India, meaning that their names can only be ascribed to beans from those specific regions. Here’s a look at the six, and the brands where you might encounter them.

BABA BUDANGIRI & CHIKMAGALUR ARABICA: DESI MOCHA

Taste notes: Intensity and clarity of a rich mocha flavour
Used by: KC Roasters, Dope Coffee Roasters

The Baba Budangiri hills in Chikmagalur, Karnataka, are where coffee was first grown in the country. According to legend, seven coffee beans were smuggled here from Yemen in the 17th century, hidden in the tunic of a Sufi saint. His name was Hazrat Shah Janab Allah Magatabi, or Baba Budan. The coffee grown here takes his name.

WAYANAD ROBUSTA: THE INSTANT BEAN

Taste notes: Bitter, pungent, but with a mild flavour and full body
Used by: A number of instant coffee and filter coffee brands

The gently sloping hills and rich laterite soil of low-lying Wayanad district in Kerala is excellent for the cultivation of Robusta beans. According to the Coffee Board of India, Wayanad produces 90% of the state’s coffee.

Broken Robusta beans are used to make instant coffee as well as in filter coffee blends. Indian filter coffees are usually a blend of Robusta and Arabica, combined with chicory for a strong flavour base. This type of blend is best suited for the milk-and-sugar coffee that Indian coffee drinkers prefer.

ARAKU VALLEY ARABICA: THE DESI EXPAT

Taste notes: Exhibits a full body coupled with bright citric flavours and striking aroma with a note of chocolate and a sweetness in the finish.
Used in India by: Araku Valley Coffee House in Vishakapatnam

Getting your hand on a cup of Araku Valley coffee might be easier in Paris than in India. This smooth, mellow, complexly flavoured bean grows in a single region on the borders of Orissa and Andhra Pradesh, by tribals who follow traditional practices of growing, selective picking and management. The cherry ripens slowly in the mild climate at the high altitude of Araku Valley, but as with the Ratnagiri Hapus, most of it is exported.

COORG ARABICA: SOUTHERN STAPLE

Taste notes: A well-balanced and mildly sweet taste with subtle body, it’s neither bitter nor sour, has low acidity levels and a mild chocolatey aftertaste.
Used by: Dope Coffee Roasters, Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters

Coorg is the largest coffee-growing district in the country. The Coorg Arabica is identified by its uniform beans that lend itself to an even roast. It is cultivated at high altitudes, and registers a slow growth rate, which prolongs the time for the cherry to ripen. Its balanced flavours are best extracted through a medium roast and hot brew.

MONSOONED MALABAR

Taste notes: Mellow, musty and fruity-flowery flavour, mildly aromatic and reduced acidity
Used by: Marc’s Coffees, Dope Coffee Roasters, The Coffee Co

The Monsooned Malabar was identified and branded as a specialty coffee by the Coffee Board of India in the 1960s. It is harvested just before the monsoon and left to soak up the moisture laden winds of the Western Ghats during the rains, in order to replicate the conditions created during its rocky voyage from India to Europe centuries ago. As the story goes, owing to the monsoon winds en route, the swollen beans at the end of the journey acquired special characteristics that resulted in reduced acidity and mellow taste. It is usually blended with stronger and more acidic varieties of coffee.

source: http://www.hindustantimes.com / Hindustan Times / Home> More Lifestyle / by Natasha Rege, Hindustan Times / May 26th, 2019

Farming a wonder It’s slice of nature in this couple’s Acres

Coffee News, Green Initiatives / Environment, Nature

This is no doubt a one-stop point for anyone wishing to gather information on organic farming.

The farm is also frequented by gaur, deer, elephants and sometimes tigers and leopards which leave their pug marks.
The farm is also frequented by gaur, deer, elephants and sometimes tigers and leopards which leave their pug marks.

Nature lovers, Satish Gowda and his wife Ganavi, both post-graduates in Coffee Quality Management from Coffee Board of India, are on a mission to promote organic farming in Chikkamagaluru. The farm maintained by Satish has inspired many to set-up organic farms on the same lines. It’s not only organic farming for which the farm has become famous, it is also the abode for numerous birds and grazing animals which go in search of fruits. Photographers love the place as they can easily sight the birds which perch on trees. The Organic farmers association has done its bit to popularise the spot by bringing foreign national to have a close look at the farm and learn the tenets of organic farming. M.B. Girish explores this unique farm which is any nature lover’s delight

The future is organic and who would know this better than Satish Gowda, a honorary wildlife warden in Chikkamagaluru and his wife Ganavi, who hails from a family of coffee planters? Their painstaking efforts spread across eight years, has created an eco-lovers’ paradise at Honnala village, Sirivase post in Chikkamagaluru where they have converted an area covered with wild shrubs into a lush green expanse by cultivating about a 1,000 fruit bearing trees. This is no doubt a one-stop point for anyone wishing to gather information on organic farming.

Organic farming is not all that this farm boasts of, it is also a bird lovers’ hallowed spot where they can film rare species which have made the farm their home.

Temple Tree Farm is spread across 7.15 acres and has a variety of fruit bearing trees including some from foreign countries which attract birds, butterflies and herbivores from the neighbouring Bhadra Tiger Reserve located on the banks of River Somavahini.

Satish and Ganavi were inspired to set up their organic farm after a visit to Navadarshanam, an eco-ashram in Bengaluru. They met Ananthu and his wife Jyothi and were inspired by their eco- sustainable way of living.

To make their dream of setting up an organic farm come true, Satish and Ganavi purchased land at Sirivase in 2011 and named it Temple Tree Farm because a Temple Tree is located right at the entrance of the farm.

The farm uses solar energy to pump water to every nook and corner and has several varieties of fruit bearing trees such as Rambutan, Java apple, mulberry, rose apple, pineapple, rampala, seethapala, lakshmanpala, hanumanthpala, papaya, cashew, guava, jack fruit, velvet apple, peach, carambola, kokum, avocado, chikoo, orange, musambi, mango, litchi, pomelo and mangosteen. Among the fruits grown at the farm, the Nakkare variety is unique as it should be eaten raw and not ripe as it tastes sweeter. Nakkare is used to make pickles and chutney.

Observing that many varieties of birds come to the farm to feed on the fruit, Satish Gowda has engaged a naturalist, Shivakumar of Chikkamagaluru to study the various species of birds and butterflies and make a note of it for documentary purposes. Shivakumar says he has sighted about 60 species of birds in the last three years including the Grey Hornbill, Malabar Trogon, Rocket Tail Dragon, Blue-fly Catchers, Asian Paradise Fly Catchers and Ruby Throated Bulbul among others. The fruits at the farm are not harvested to allow the visiting birds feast on them.

“I even see Otters in River Somavahini flowing close to the farm, the other place I get to see Otters is in the Bhadra backwaters,” says Shivakumar. Another rare species he has seen at the farm is the Flying Lizard. “I read about the Flying Lizard in writer Poornachandra Tejaswi’s book and was lucky to spot it at Satish’s farm.”

The farm is also frequented by gaur, deer, elephants and sometimes tigers and leopards which leave their pug marks.

Malnad Gidda, an indigenous cow was added to the farm and dung and urine from the cows are being used as plant nutrients and pesticide. Satish says milk from Malnad Gidda is highly nutritious and has medicinal properties. A fish pond is an artificial tank to collect rain water as the region receives copious rainfall during the monsoon. The pond has stocks of fish varieties such as Gowri, Rohu and Katla.

The chicken are fed paddy and dry paddy hay is used as fodder for cows. Goats and cows are also fed green grass. No dry fodder is bought from outside. Honey boxes are kept around the farm and help in a collection of over 25 kg of honey in a year.

Ganavi says visitors to the farm are amazed how an empty piece of land was transformed into a fully functional farm. Taking a cue from Satish Gowda, Partasarthy Wodeyar, a resident of Salagame hobli near Hassan city, is developing an eco-farm on the lines of Temple Tree Farm. He also plans to start an eco-tourism centre in an area of four acres and wants to serve organic food to visitors.

“I learnt a lot from Satish Gowda’s farm. It is difficult to maintain a farm like his and the effort put in by Gowda is worth appreciating,” he says.

Satish being an honorary wildlife warden, is also rendering a helping hand in mitigating human-animal conflict in and around Bhadra Tiger Reserve. He offers compensation for cattle killed by tigers or leopards. Besides, Anti-Poaching Camp personnel are given torches, water repellent coats and other accessories to enable them guard the forest areas from smugglers or poachers.

source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> Nation> Current Affairs / by M B Girish, Deccan Chronicle / May 19th, 2019

Tata Coffee reports total income of Rs 757 crore in FY19

Business & Economy, Coffee News, Coffee, Kodagu (Coorg), World Opinion

Mumbai :

Tata Coffee, a subsidiary of Tata Global Beverages and Asia’s largest integrated coffee company, has reported standalone total income of Rs 757 crore in April to March 2018-19 compared to Rs 762 crore in the previous financial year.

The profit after tax was Rs 72 crore against Rs 63 crore in the same period due to an improved plantation and instant coffee performance as well as on the sale of its non-core fixed assets.

For the quarter ended March 31, the company reported a total income at Rs 212 crore compared to Rs 207 crore during January to March 2018. Profit after tax was higher at Rs 12 crore compared to Rs 4 crore in the same period.

“The offtakes to Africa and European geographies continue to be strong and our focus on customer acquisition in new geographies has enabled a robust and healthy order book,” said Tata Coffee’s Managing Director Chacko Thomas.

“While volumes are high, the instant coffee business continues to be under margin pressure due to the current competitive scenario in the industry and hardening rupee,” he said.

On March 6, the company unveiled its first off-shore freeze-dried coffee production plant in Vietnam with a capacity of 5,000 million tonnes per annum.

Tata Coffee produces 8,000 to 10,000 million tonnes of shade-grown Arabica and Robusta coffees at 19 estates in south India. Its two instant coffee manufacturing facilities have a combined installed capacity of 8,400 million tonnes.

lt exports green coffee to 40 countries in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and North America.

source: http://www.newkerala.com / New Kerala / Home> News> Business India News / by ANI / April 20th, 2019

Brimming up with Speciality brews

Coffee News

Newly launched Quick Brown is riding the third wave of coffee culture in India.
coffeebrownKF17apr2019

What is in a name’, the famous quote by English poet William Shakespeare has been recalled many times since the 17th century when it was first uttered. Cut to the 21st century, the ‘name’ still finds itself wrapped in an ambiguous identity that cannot be clearly or coherently defined, yet carrying the message of an intention lucidly.

For Quick Brown Fox, a new coffee roastery at Dhanmill Compound, the name doesn’t stand for much besides adding a bit of quirk to the tongue that speaks it. Inside, space is an entirely different creation that takes after a Scandinavian design undercurrent. Yet, the contrast in the name and space doesn’t go in vain. It sets the tone for the unexpected, exactly what its Founder, Vaibhav Bindal, wanted to achieve.

coffeebrown02KF17apr2019

Gauging by the meteoric rise in specialised coffee shops in India, people like Bindal are new age coffee revolutionaries who are riding the third wave of the coffee culture in India. This phase calls in for high-quality artisanal coffee employing state-of-the-art devices, latest technology, new knowledge, latest scientific research, and transparency and traceability about the source of coffee.

“On a 100 point scale that Specialty Coffee Association, a nonprofit, organisation that represents thousands of coffee professionals, considers to evaluate coffee characteristics, we follow 80 or above points, therefore ours is always A grade coffee,” says Bindal, whose retail brand of roasted coffee is also called Quick Brown Fox, delivered to metros as well as tier two cities.

Working out a new business structure, that of a physical coffee shop was stepping it up into the expanding coffee space. They specialise in single estate Arabica coffee that is roasted lightly in small batches to ensure the flavour of the bean is dominant. “We maintain a direct trade relationship with the farmers without the intervention of middlemen. Each coffee is treated uniquely and a roast profile has been created to showcase the flavours of the origin,” he says.

Besides coffee, you want to get your hand on the house special Eggs Benedicts in four versions sectioned out as a separate segment on the menu. The rest of it is a mix of various morning sweets and savouries. But save that for later. First and foremost, it’s coffee that you want to call out for.

Quick Brown Fox specialises in single estate Arabica coffee that is roasted lightly in small batches to ensure the flavour of the bean is dominant. They maintain a direct trade relationship with the farmers without the intervention of middlemen. Each coffee is treated uniquely and a roast profile has been created to showcase the flavours of the origin.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Delhi / by Ayesha Singh / Express News Service / April 16th, 2019

India to launch coffee consumption drive

Coffee News, World Opinion

CoffeePickingKF14apr2019

The World Coffee Producers Forum has decided to reach out to the coffee consuming countries around the world.

India will plan and roll out a coffee consumption campaign on behalf of global coffee growers who suffered huge financial losses on account of falling coffee prices and soaring labour cost.

The context is that coffee growers around the globe are going paupers and turning poverty stricken. As per International Coffee Organization (ICO), 25 million farmers, including more than 3,00,000 in India, produce coffee in 60 counties. Over 90% of these growers are smallholders and are forced to sell their coffees at a price much below the cost of production. This scenario has led to socio-economic issues. These growers and their families have gone deeper into debts. Many even have abandoned their farms and migrated to cities.

To bring world coffee producers, including Indian growers, out of this appalling situation, The World Coffee Producers Forum has decided to reach out to the coffee consuming countries around the world.

As a precursor to this, India, which has a domestic consumption of more than 5 million bags (of 60 kg each) will kick off a five-year coffee consumption campaign in collaboration with top global roasters including Nestle and Starbucks, cafe chains, other stakeholders and the Government of India.

Anil Kumar Bhandari, president of India Coffee Trust and also chairman of Private Sector Consultative Board of ICO told The Hindu that, a special entity would be formed to execute this country-wide coffee campaign. The plan is to get most of the funding from international roasters while ICO will play a catalyst’s role.

The campaign will address a population of 450 million, mostly school and college students, in India. Carlos Brando, who ran various coffee projects in more than 50 countries — including Brazil’s famous coffee campaign that significantly pushed up the country’s consumption in 1990 — will be actively involved in the India campaign that will be ready for launch by mid 2020.

‘Demand-supply issue’
“There is a huge demand-supply imbalance that currently exists in the global coffee markets. That’s the root cause for price fall. Increasing the consumption is the only way to counter this and therefore demand for the commodity in the global markets will increase. This exercise has to begin somewhere and let that be from India,” said Mr. Bhandari.

The plan was to import excess coffees from Brazil, Colombia and Vietnam, provided the government of India waives off the import duty on coffee which is 105%, he added.

“It is like catching them young, before students get involved with colas, carbonated sugar drinks or liquors. We have to create a generational change and build a coffee culture. The campaign will be run in consultation with parents, teachers and school/college managements. We will also rope in sugar companies, dairy brands into it,” he added.

As per ICO, the world drinks 1.5 billion cups of coffee every day and consumers on an average pay $3.1 a cup in the U.S., $4.60 in Shanghai, $6.24 in Copenhagen and $3 to $4 in Bangalore and New Delhi. But unfortunately, not even 5% of this cup price reaches the grower.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Business> Industry / by Mini Tejaswi / Bengaluru – April 13th, 2019

Behind Araku Valley coffee’s GI Tag

Coffee News, World Opinion

ArakuCoffeeKF12apr2019

It might have been around for a century, but Araku’s Arabica coffee didn’t get the tag that easily
Araku Valley, the highlands of the Eastern Ghats mountain range overlooking the Bay of Bengal, is brewing one of the best coffees in the world and its aroma just got headier with the Geographical Indication (GI) tag it was recently awarded.

Located 2,985 feet above sea level, coffee plantations here are spread across hilly terrain growing under the shade of towering silver oaks. What makes this coffee unique is that it is organic and cultivated by Adivasi farmers in 10 mandals of the region. The peculiar mix of climate in Araku — hot days and cool nights — coupled with naturally iron-rich soil lends the Araku coffee body, intensity and a rich aroma. No wonder it has fans across France, Sweden, Dubai and Switzerland as well.

Interestingly, the Girijan Cooperative Corporation (GCC), which has been promoting Araku coffee for three years now, had applied for the GI tag at the Chennai-GI registry in 2016. However, its claims at that time were dismissed by the Coffee Board of India, an organisation managed by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
____________________

Coffee Statistics

– In India, coffee is cultivated on approximately 4.54 lakh hectares
– There are nearly 3.66 lakh coffee farmers (according to government
figures, 98 % are small farmers)
– In 2018-19 Coffee production in India is estimated to be 3,19,500
tonnes (according to Coffee Board).
– There has been a rise of 13.26 % in the first two months of this
year, totalling to to 48,330 tonnes

_____________________

Things changed, however, when the Coffee Board itself applied this year; the Chennai-based GI registry awarded the GI tag to Araku, along with four others (Coorg Arabica coffee from Karnataka, Wayanad Robusta coffee from Kerala, Chikmagalur Arabica from Karnataka and Bababudangiris Arabica coffee also from Karnataka).

“The GI tag will help Indian coffee varieties be specifically identified with their unique flavour and also increase their popularity. The adivasis of Araku will now get a better price for their produce,” says T Baburao Naidu, GCC vice-chairman and managing director. The GCC is expanding its footprint across the State and the country by setting up outlets selling Araku coffee.

Coffee cultivation in the Araku region began around the early 1900s. But it came into the limelight only a few years ago after a couple of players like GCC and Naandi Foundation (an organisation working in the social sector) entered the fray to help the adivasis grow quality beans and market their produce on the global platform.

_______________

What it means

A GI is a name or sign used on products which belong to a specific geographical location or origin and is a certification that the product possesses certain qualities that are unique to that locality.

_______________

Manoj Kumar, CEO of Naandi Foundation, says, “When I started working in the area as part of Naandi Foundation 20 years ago, people told us this is was a ‘non-traditional’ coffee region! We have come a long way since then, with a strong cooperative of 10,000 adivasi farmers and a central processing unit. We opened a flagship store in Paris, and won the Gold Medal for the best coffee pod at the Prix Epicures OR 2018 Award. The GI tag is a safety net and a recognition that this region’s coffee has a unique identity.”

A loyal Araku coffee fan, Vidya Raghu, says, “It is different. There is an exhilarating aroma, golden-brown froth and a lingering, slightly sharp after-taste that envelopes your senses. I haven’t experienced this kind of refreshing flavour with any other coffee I’ve had.”

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Life & Style>Food / by Nivedita Ganguly / April 11th, 2019

Afoozo, CCD win India Coffee House franchise; McCann roped in for brand facelift

Business & Economy, Coffee News

During the first two years of the pilot phase, the Coffee Board intends to open 50 franchises of India Coffee House on lease.

IndiaCoffeeCentreKF05apr2019

Mumbai-based Afoozo and Bengaluru-based Cafe Coffee Day (CCD) have won the franchise bid to run and expand the Coffee Board-owned India Coffee House. Currently, with 15 outlets across India, directly operated by the Coffee Board, the proposed public-private model is aimed at giving the India Coffee House a facelift, turning it into a full-service franchise. The Coffee Board invited bids to establish and operate the outlets in July last year.

Confirming the development, the Coffee Board CEO Srivatsa Krishna said that Afoozo and CCD won the bid. “We have just awarded the contracts and currently, we are undertaking location visits and will take four-five months to start working on it.”

During the first two years of the pilot phase, the Coffee Board intends to open 50 franchises of India Coffee House on lease. It will also open some outlets at Coffee Board-owned locations.

“Both companies agreed to the same upset price (franchisee fee). Since the tender provides for multiple franchising, we will split the locations,” said Krishna. Currently, the board is looking at locations such as IIT, Chennai and IIM, Bangalore, to expand India Coffee House’s footprint.

Under the franchisee model, Afoozo and CCD will be permitted to use the Coffee Board’s ‘India Coffee House’ brand name and its trademark. They will also be provided with a complete business system, including branding and communication guidelines. However, no sub-franchising will be allowed according to the terms of the contract. Moving away from the revenue-sharing model, the selected franchisee will follow a ‘per location’ paying model for an initial period of three years. Further extension can happen on a price mutually agreeable to both parties.

While private companies will run the outlets, the Coffee Board will prescribe product pricing. With the board already fixing the maximum retail sale prices of products as part of the bidding contract, the franchisees will not be at liberty to increase pricing. A 100 ml of Arabica coffee sold at Rs 100 at other coffee shops will be priced at Rs 30, while a mini coffee of 60 ml will be priced at Rs 25.

“People remember India Coffee House for the quality of food and its affordable pricing. We now want to turn it into a business version of CCD,” said Krishna .

The board has roped in McCann ad agency to provide a brand facelift and has also mandated a two-year digital campaign starting around Diwali. The contract is likely to be signed soon.

source: http://www.businesstoday.in / Business Today / Home> Big Story> Story / by Rukmini Rao / April 03rd, 2019

Coffee trade goes live on blockchain platform

Agriculture, Business & Economy, Coffee News, Records, All, World Opinion
The initiative was announced by Suresh Prabhu, Union minister for commerce and industry, in Delhi in September, 2018. Mint
The initiative was announced by Suresh Prabhu, Union minister for commerce and industry, in Delhi in September, 2018. Mint

– The project was announced by Suresh Prabhu, minister for commerce
and industry, in Delhi last September

– The blockchain platform will allow a coffee producer to directly
transact with multiple buyers.

The Coffee Board on Thursday launched the pilot of the country’s first blockchain-based marketplace app for trading in Indian coffee, aimed at getting growers better returns by removing myriad middlemen.

Known as the Coffee Blockchain initiative, the pilot was activated simultaneously by Jose Dauster Sette, executive director of the International Coffee Organisation from Nairobi and Anup Wadhawan, India’s commerce secretary from New Delhi.

The project was announced by Suresh Prabhu, minister for commerce and industry, in Delhi last September. So, why did it take six months for the project to go live?

“There were more than 20 stakeholders from three different countries. We had to get all of them on board, and then test the platform. We believe this is perhaps only the third attempt at a coffee blockchain after France and Ethiopia,” said Srivatsa Krishna, chief executive officer and secretary of the Coffee Board, a government organisation tasked with promoting Indian coffee.

The blockchain platform will allow a coffee producer to directly transact with multiple buyers.

In India, coffee is cultivated in about 454,000 hectares by 366,000 coffee farmers — 98% of them small farmers — whose returns are meagre. Krishna said the aim of using blockchain is to “premium-ise” coffee, add “bean-to-cup traceability” and cut the role of middlemen.

The blockchain-based solution was developed in coordination with Eka Software Solutions. Manav Garg, the company’s CEO and founder, said the idea of using blockchain is to “record the first smart contract on a blockchain with the 20-odd stakeholders, and establish trust in the marketplace”.

“With this activation, we are confident that the Coffee Board of India will help the Indian coffee trade make more inroads into the premium market internationally and make India one of the top three coffee producers in the world,” Garg added.

Krishna said the Coffee Board is also “testing” blockchain-based solutions from a couple of other vendors but added that “the one from Eka Software was the most suitable at this moment”.

Blockchain is no longer a technology that is just about powering cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and ether. A distributed digital ledger technology (DLT), it is also being used by manufacturing companies to improve their supply chains; by healthcare and electricity companies; and by the financial sector to make transactions more transparent.

source: http://www.livemint.com / Live Mint / Home> Explore / by Leslie D’Monte / March 29th, 2019

Five coffee varieties get GI tag

Agriculture, Business & Economy, Coffee News, Coffee, Kodagu (Coorg), Records, All, World Opinion
Global praise: Tribal women harvesting organic coffee on a plantation near Girliguda in Araku, Visakhapatnam.The Araku Valley coffee which is processed and marketed with the help of the tribal farmers cooperative society recently won the gold medal for the best coffee pod in the Prix Epicures OR 2018 Award in Paris. | Photo Credit: K.R. Deepak
Global praise: Tribal women harvesting organic coffee on a plantation near Girliguda in Araku, Visakhapatnam.The Araku Valley coffee which is processed and marketed with the help of the tribal farmers cooperative society recently won the gold medal for the best coffee pod in the Prix Epicures OR 2018 Award in Paris. | Photo Credit: K.R. Deepak

The government on Friday said it has awarded Geographical Indication (GI) tag to five varieties of Indian coffee including Coorg Arabica.

The move is expected to help the growers get maximum price for their premium produce.

The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, has recently awarded this tag to — Coorg Arabica coffee from Karnataka, Wayanad Robusta coffee from Kerala, Chikmaglur Arabica from Karnataka, Araku Valley Arabica from Andhra Pradesh, and Bababudangiris Arabica coffee from Karnataka.

The Araku coffee is produced by the tribals, who follow an organic approach in which they emphasise management practices involving substantial use of organic manures, green manuring and organic pest management practices, the ministry said in a statement.

Similarly, it said, Bababudangiris Arabica coffee is selectively hand-picked and processed by natural fermentation.

In India, coffee is cultivated in about 4.54 lakh hectare by 3.66 lakh coffee farmers of which 98 per cent are small farmers.

Coffee cultivation is mainly done in the southern states of India including Karnataka, which accounts for 54 per cent of the total production. It is followed by Kerala (19 per cent), Tamil Nadu (eight per cent).

It is also grown in non-traditional areas such as Andhra Pradesh and Odisha (17.2 per cent) and North East states (1.8 per cent).

India is the only country in the world where the entire coffee cultivation is grown under shade, hand-picked and sun dried, it said adding the country produces some of the best coffee in the world, grown by tribal farmers in the Western and Eastern Ghats, which are the two major bio-diversity hotspots in the world. Indian coffee is highly valued in the world market and sold as premium coffee in Europe.

“The recognition and protection that comes with GI certification will allow the coffee producers of India to invest in maintaining the specific qualities of the coffee grown in that particular region. It will also enhance the visibility of Indian coffee in the world and allow growers to get maximum price for their premium coffee,” it added.

A Geographical Indication (GI) is primarily an agricultural, natural or a manufactured product (handicrafts and industrial goods) originating from a definite geographical territory.

Typically, such a name conveys an assurance of quality and distinctiveness, which is essentially attributable to the place of its origin.

Darjeeling Tea, Tirupathi Laddu, Kangra Paintings, Nagpur Orange and Kashmir Pashmina are among the registered GIs in India.

Experts said that award of GI tag gives protection to the producer of those genuine products, which commands premium pricing in the markets both domestic and international.

“Once the GI protection is granted, no other producer can misuse the name to market similar products. It also provides comfort to customers about the authenticity of that product,” National Intellectual Property Organisation (NIPO) President T.C. James said.

Such products also get premium pricing in the markets, he added.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Business> Industry / by PTI / New Delhi – March 29th, 2019

Tata Coffee appoints Chacko Purackal Thomas as MD And CEO

Business & Economy, Coffee News, Coffee, Kodagu (Coorg)

– Thomas will replace the current MD and CEO Sanjiv Sarin following
his retirement effective 31 March

– He currently works as the executive director and deputy CEO of the
Tata Group firm

Tata Coffee on Friday announced the appointment of Chacko Purackal Thomas as the managing director and chief executive officer. He will replace Sanjiv Sarin, who retires on 31 March. He will assume the charge from April 1, 2019.

Thomas, currently working as the executive director and deputy CEO of the Tata Group firm, has been associated with the company since 2015.

In a statement to the NSE, Tata Coffee said Thomas has a Bachelor degree in Science, with a specialisation in Computer Science from the University of Jodhpur. He has over 27 years of experience in the plantation industry.

Before joining Tata Coffee, Thomas was managing director, Kannan Devan Hills Plantations Company Private Limited, Munnar.

source: http://www.livemint.com / LiveMint / Home> Explore / March 22nd, 2019