Bengaluru :

The Coffee Board on Thursday conferred the Best Coffee Exporters’ Awards to the best exporters of green coffee, specialty coffee, instant coffee and roasted coffee.

Coffee Board chairperson Leena Nair said the since 1999-2000, the board has been presenting the awards to motivate, encourage and maximise export performances, especially to key destinations.

Indian coffee exports have been good over the past few years, touching three lakh metric tonnes annually. Of the 538 exporters, 128, who actively exported coffee during 2013-14, were judged by a jury for the awards.

Chief Secretary Arvind Jadhav, who was the chief guest during the ceremony, said the coffee sector needs to be given a boost to drive the economy of the state in a major way. “Coffee cultivation in the state is threatened by climate change, but proper research should be put in to mitigate the effect and produce top-end coffee,” he added.

India exported 2.99 lakh metric tonnes of coffee during 2013-14 with export earnings of $776 million (Rs 4,594 crore), covering more than 100 countries. Italy, Germany, Russia, Belgium, Turkey and Spain are the top six countries importing Indian coffee.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Karnataka / by Express News Service / January 08th, 2016