Category Archives: Coffee News

A coffee cured by rain

October 5, 2018Coffee Newsadmin

The mellow notes of Monsoon Malabar coffee take shape in the coastal city of Mangaluru and go on to travel the world.

It’s a mildly sunny day after three months of rain, but no one at the coffee curing yard at Allanasons, in Kuthar Padavu on the outskirts of Mangaluru, is complaining. Dark monsoon clouds hover in the distance, and an evening of much-welcome downpour is guaranteed.

After all, it is this Southwest monsoon rain and the moisture in the air that will help create Monsoon Malabar — said to be among the most hallowed coffee blends in the world.

After all, can there be a better coffee than one cured by Nature?

The story behind this bean is rife with serendipity. It is believed that during the days of the Raj, when coffee beans were transported by sea to Europe, the humidity and sea winds worked on the bean, ripened it, reduced acidity and turned it pale yellow. When brewed, these beans yielded mellow, smooth coffee with what is sometimes described as a pleasantly ‘earthy’ flavour.

The coffee went on to develop a devoted following. Once packaging techniques and modes of transport were modernised, it could no longer be cured in transit. So, people worked on trial and error to recreate the conditions at sea on land, along the Arabian Sea coast.

At the three-acre curing yard that sports sheds with brick-red sloping Mangaluru-tiled roofs (with A Albuquerque etched on them) shored up by white pillars, there’s coffee in various stages of curing. Fresh bags of Arabica from Chikmagalur, Sakleshpur and Coorg are piled in a corner, while workers evenly spread out nearly 15,000 kilograms of green coffee beans using rakes. This is churned and raked every day to allow the beans to breathe. In an adjoining space is a similar quantity of beans spread out a fortnight ago. They are almost off-white in colour, plumper from the moisture absorbed.

This batch is all ready to move to the next stage of processing. The coffee is packed in gunny bags filled to three-fourths capacity, and placed one on top of the other in a room with the windows open. The humid air will help the beans grow in size, and take on a mellow flavour. In between each stack of bags is a wind row, to allow for enough aeration, explains Poonacha PS, the manager of the Mangaluru unit. The bags literally swell by some inches after the three-month-long process.

Later, they go to a mechanised unit that cleans and segregates beans based on size. The highest quality must measure above 7.1 mm; that gets the AA grade.

Work on the coffee yard goes on through the year; the monsoon months are used to cure coffee that is processed the rest of the year before export. Of late, niche domestic retailers also stock this bean.

The time taken, labour-intensive process involved and the constant monitoring involved ensures the processed bean costs almost double or more that of its regular cousin. Roasted and ground bean can cost about four times more.

Poonacha, who recently went to Amsterdam for a coffee festival says: “The appreciation for this bean is huge. People loved it and looked at you with envy, because you have a process that can never be manipulated outside of this coast.”

Because Monsoon Malabar is an acquired taste, people either love it or hate it. And once a fan, it’s a lifelong affair with a coffee that reminds one of rainy days and romance.

Marc Tormo Altimira, 47, of Marc’s Coffees in Auroville, tasted his first shot of Monsoon Malabar more than two decades ago in Spain. “I never forgot the mellow, smooth coffee with notes of wine,” recalls Marc, who began brewing the coffee and retailing it about eight years ago. “When I started my coffee brand, I wanted to stock this, because it’s very unique to India. I buy my stock through the year from Mangaluru. What makes this blend very interesting is the story. It makes you nostalgic.”

Marc’s café pairs monsooned Arabica with dark chocolate brownies, slices of almond chocolate cake and grilled sandwiches.

One in a million
“Monsooned coffee is unique because no other country in the world can produce this,” he says.

Marc roasts two variants. A light roast Arabica best for black coffee or pour overs. And Malabar Blues, a dark roast of 50:50 Arabica and Robusta, which pairs well with milk.

What’s the best place to have a cup of Monsoon Malabar? Marc’s reply will make you smile.

“Ideally, a place where the monsoon is pouring down. When you are back from a walk in the rain and need something to warm you up. A cup of this is one of the best experiences you can have. After all, you are drinking a coffee created by rain, in the rain.”

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Life & Style> Food / by Subha J. Rao / October 04th, 2018

How sustainable is your cuppa?

October 5, 2018Coffee News, Green Initiatives / Environment, World Opinionadmin

A look at the variety of factors that go into brewing a truly green cup, from direct trade to responsible single-estate players.

Coffee is the most valuable legally-traded commodity in the world, second only to oil.

It is estimated that 2.25 billion cups of coffee are consumed each day, worldwide. Ironically, the poorest countries in the world (Guatemala, Ethiopia, Peru and Honduras are some of the top producers of coffee) are growing it, while it’s the richest who are drinking it (the top five coffee consumers are all European countries)… and at prices that get more absurd every day.

It is important to know that the coffee sold at retail is a different economic product from wholesale coffee, traded on the commodity exchange as green beans. And therein lies the rub. The money goes to those that process it. Coffee needs to be hulled, dried, roasted and ground before you can drink it. A big, shiny roaster inside your café means you can charge more than double what the farmer who grew the bean got for it. British charity Oxfam says the price of raw coffee exported from producer countries accounts for less than 7 % of the eventual cost of coffee to Western consumers.

The organic perspective
While certified organic coffee is sold at a premium, lower yields mean that farmers do not always profit in a meaningful way from obtaining certification, so most forgo it completely.

Fair Trade is a good option because the middlemen in coffee are so notorious. Coffee importers provide credit to certified farmers to help them stay out of debt with coffee buyers. But, the certification itself is expensive and there are several brands that practise fair trade without certification.

There are more than a few brands in India that make sustainable, fair trade, organic coffee nowadays. Black Baza is one of them. Founder Arshiya Bose, having done a PhD in the brew, believes a healthy ecosystem creates the best coffee. Black Baza supports their farmers with regular field research on healthy ecosystem indicators: spiders are the pest-control and butterflies, the pollinators. Not only is their coffee organic but the tree cover under which the coffee is grown also has to be 80% natural forest trees.

Organic coffee is mostly always shade-grown because of the large amounts of pesticide and fertilisers required to grow coffee under the sun. Indian coffee competes with large-scale, high-tech coffee estates in Central and South America, which were razed rainforests to begin with. They became so completely stripped of nutrients that in many areas of Brazil, the land could no longer be used for agriculture.

Little wonder that sun-grown coffee is the third most heavily sprayed crop in the world.

A constant struggle
I spoke to Kishore Cariappa of the famed Cariappa Coffee in Kodaikanal (with its own café). Their organic, single-estate, single-origin coffee, is easily one of the best in the country.

Kishore is a stickler for detail. Because the coffee is naturally rain-fed — with no artificial irrigation — the beans all ripen at different times. This means harvesting takes place several times to ensure only ripe berries are picked. It’s time-consuming and labour-intensive, but the only way you can compete with larger coffee companies.

His state-of-the-art roasting and processing machinery was bought to handle 200 acres of coffee. He had dreamt of starting a co-op of the farms in his village — tribal people that grew coffee organically under the shade of forest trees. He had even set up a system by which the farmers would get a monthly salary instead of the once-a-year bumper price that comes with the crop. But all the farmers in his village had already given their coffee out on five-10-year contracts to a clan of local coffee buyers.

“Educated farmers keep track of the prices in London and know what price to demand. But the average farmer doesn’t. They are not exposed to the Internet and their holdings are too small for export. Add to that the fact that they get an income only once a year, so they borrow money from this consortium of buyers and have their coffee locked on contract. This way, the international market prices don’t apply to them any more,” he says.

Kishore decided to go ahead with growing his own coffee and quickly realised that the only way to make money being a coffee farmer was to start his own café. It’s no dream job, though. “Growing sustainable coffee is hard. Organic coffee is so much more labour-intensive; which means expensive. To export, you need 20 tonnes per batch at least to fill a container. Coffee has to be fresh, even the green beans, so you have to send it in batches which is another added cost.”

Direct trade, where coffee roasters directly purchase from farmers, is also a socially sustainable choice. There’s no set standard, and there are no certifications. Roasters directly negotiate prices with the farmers, who typically earn a higher premium for their product. Blue Tokai coffee bags come with a detailed card on the farmer and the farm on which the coffee you ordered, was grown.

We are blessed to be growing some of the finest coffee in the world, and there are now plenty of brands that do it well. Keep it local, nourish our coffee traditions and support those that are making a difference.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Life & Style> Food / by Simrit Malhi / October 04th, 2018

Coffee in India: A Complex History and a Promising Future

October 3, 2018Agriculture, Coffee News, Coffee, Kodagu (Coorg), Nature, World Opinionadmin

Mullayanagiri [mool-ya-na-gi-ree] is a mouthful not only for those people who don’t speak either of the four languages of the five Southern Indian states, but even for most Indians who are unfamiliar with the region.

At an elevation of 1,930 meters, Mullayanagiri is the highest mountain peak in the Southwestern Indian state of Karnataka, in the Chikmagalur district. The peak forms a part of the Baba Budan range of mountains, which are part of the greater Western Ghats. The names of Chikmagalur and Baba Budan will resonate with most of the Indian populace for its association with coffee and salubrious weather.

Chikamagalur, the lesser-known, quaint hill town, became the first recorded place in India to cultivate coffee when it was introduced to hillsides from Yemen around the mid to late 1600s. As the story goes, seven beans of coffee were smuggled out of Yemen’s town of Mocha by an Indian hermit named Baba Budan.

Baba Budan then planted these in the hills of Chikmagalur. No one is sure of how much and how well these foreign beans grew in the time following, but coffee cultivation was seriously undertaken in the 18th Century by British entrepreneurs who turned forests in Southern India into commercial coffee plantations.

In fact, coffee was cultivated long before tea, mainly in Northern India. This is a relatively unknown fact, as India is perceived to be a tea-drinking nation and does have excellent tea gardens in Darjeeling, Bengal and Assam.

“Coffee was an established commercial crop by the turn of the 19th Century and was exported to Europe via London,” said Anil Bhandari, president of the India Coffee Trust, a nonprofit organization that promotes coffee consumption. “By the early 1940s, Indian Arabica coffee — or Mysore coffee, as it was known then — had established itself in the European market and had a branding all of its own. However… WWII and the loss of the European market during that phase caused the unique branding of Mysore coffee to disappear from buyers’ consciousness.”

Coffee grown in the forests of India, the world’s sixth largest producer of coffee, is cultivated under thick canopies in the Western Ghats — a UNESCO World Heritage site and one of the world’s most important biodiversity hotspots.

In the 2016-17 season, India produced 5.5 million bags of coffee. A majority of the country’s coffee is grown in the three southern states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala, followed by Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, which was a part of Andhra Pradesh until recently.

Nearly 65 percent of the total production comes from Karnataka, while Tamil Nadu contributes approximately 15 percent, and Kerala makes up around 20 percent. It has been estimated that there are more than 210,000 coffee producers in India, the majority of whom are smallhoder farmers with plots around two hectares.

As in most producing countries, India processes coffee by the washed (or wet) method as well as the natural (or dry) method.

India is renowned for its unique shade-grown coffee. The two commercially important species of coffee, Arabica and Robusta, are grown under heavy shade that is believed to contribute to the flavor profile of the coffee to the coffee, along with other influences such as the monsoons, spices that grow around coffee, and the various fauna that thrive alongside it.

Within this bio-diverse growing environment, the mixture of vegetation prevents soil erosion and fallen leaves decompose to become rich humus, thereby retaining the forest ecosystem. The Indian Rainforest-grown Arabica is unique in its properties and sought after for its flavor and characteristics, as these are grown at higher altitudes.

Increasingly, the industry is shifting towards sustainable farming practices, and more estates have become certified by Rainforest Alliance-UTZ and Fairtrade. Organic coffee is also of increasing interest, especially for coffee grown on tribal land, which represents about 42 percent of the coffee area in India. In these areas, coffee is managed in traditional ways, often organically.

Most of India’s coffee exports go to Europe, Japan and the Middle East, while many global consumers remain unaware of the complexities and quality that fine Indian coffee from Southern estates can offer. The name “Coffee of India” is only used as an indication of origin at the export level, when packages are shipped from India to the country of destination.

“Indian coffee, particularly the Robusta parchment and cherry, continue to see good demand from Italian buyers,” said Ramesh Rajah, the president of the Coffee Exporters Association of India. “Of concern is the falling Arabica production due to extremely low prices prevailing in the international market, as well as the recent flood damage, which is still being assessed.”

Rigid control of quality and grade designations by India Coffee Board, an agency of the Government of India, ensures the export of only the finest and the most aromatic of India’s hand-picked coffee beans.

Encouragement for the local coffee industry comes not only from the Coffee Board of India, but from nonprofit bodies such as the India Coffee Trust that are working towards fortifying and intensifying these efforts.

“The India Coffee Trust is the result of a general consensus among the stakeholders of the Indian coffee industry to create a nonprofit organization that discusses and promotes Indian coffee,” Bhandari said. “Assisting the Trust with the objective of creating a wider global outreach and visibility of India’s fine Shade Grown coffees is the Indian Coffee Collective. Together, our primary mandate is to promote India’s shade-grown coffees and it’s long standing history with the humble brown bean.”

With a goal of raising awareness around preserving and promoting the values of coffee culture in India, the India International Coffee Festival — jointly organized by the India Coffee Trust and Coffee Board of India — took place in Bengaluru in January 2018. The four-day attracted more than 5,000 local, national, and international visitors.

The next festival is scheduled for 2020. Time will tell where Indian coffee will be by then.

source: http://www.dailycoffeenews.com / Daily Coffee News (by Roast Magazine) / by Anamika Ghosh / October 02nd, 2018

Geographical indication tag for state-grown coffee soon

October 2, 2018Business & Economy, Coffee News, Coffee, Kodagu (Coorg), Records, All, Uncategorized, World Opinionadmin

Crop grown in Kodagu, C'magaluru, Bababudangiri among 5 varieties being considered for the GI tag. — Crop grown in Kodagu, C’magaluru, Bababudangiri among 5 varieties being considered for the GI tag.

Soon, coffee grown in Kodagu, Chikkamagaluru and Bababudangiri will get geographical indication (GI) tag, said Srivatsa Krishna, CEO and secretary, Coffee Board, on Monday.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of ‘Naya Bharat: Coffee Par Soch,’ as part of International Coffee Day, he said that the Board had applied for GI tag for coffee grown in five southern regions, based on their uniqueness. Of these five places, three are from Karnataka. The list also comprises coffee grown in Araku valley (Andhra Pradesh) and Wayanad (Kerala). The GI tag is likely to come by January 2019.

This is the first time that GI tag has been applied for coffee-growing regions. In 2008, GI tag was obtained for Monsoon Malabar coffee blend. “The idea of doing this is to recognise the coffee, promote the brand and increase local sales. Over 70% of India’s coffee is grown in Karnataka, but the market needs to be strengthened,” he said.

To increase the production of coffee, regain the market position and encourage farmers, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Act funds will be helpful, Krishna said.

“I request the Coffee Board to tie up with zilla panchayats to recoup and expand the areas. Funds for coffee planters under MGNREGA will be given, on the lines of mulberry and sericulture,” he said. Krishna said the floods in Kodagu had an impact on coffee production, but things were improving.

On the occasion, the Board announced the launch of Atal Incubation Centre at Coffee Board in Bengaluru. This centre will help startups and coffee growers to become entrepreneurs. The centre is set up under the Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) to nurture innovative startup businesses.

So far, in India, 20 centres have been established, Coffee Board is the 21st and the first such in India, said R Ramanan, mission director, AIM. This centre is being set up in partnership with Nasscom and FKCCI.

The Coffee Board also announced its partnership with Ernst and Young for ‘The Future of Coffee-Roadmap’, and with National Institute of Public Finance and Policy for a study on subsidies for Coffee Industry.

source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> State> Top Karnataka Stories / by Bosky Khanna, DH News Service / October 01st, 2018

Weather, elevation decides taste

October 1, 2018Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Coffee News, Coffee, Kodagu (Coorg)admin

Coffee lovers in the city must be a happy lot. There many options in places to have a hot cuppa and newer varieties and blends are being discovered regularly.

Metrolife spoke to owners of some of the popular cafes in the city who brew their own coffee, farm to cup style.

The Flying Squirrel

Starting off as a purely coffee making business, owners Ashish Dabreo and Tej later decided to open a cafe in Koramangala a couple of years ago. They have an estate in Coorg.

The cafe offers about eight varieties of coffee. The bean and powder are also retailed online and at the cafe.

Ashish says, “We follow the artisanal method to create our coffee. Depending on the type of coffee we are using, the process also varies according.”

One of their products, Sunkissed Coffee, is made with pulped sundried robusta bean. “There are two ways in which you can roast coffee — you either remove the skin and pulp and then dry it, or leave some of the pulp when drying. We follow the latter for Sunkissed coffee. The bean is fermented and then left to dry for 12 days. In this case, the fruitiness in the pulp gets absorbed into the bean, giving the coffee a distinct flavour.”

Each of the varieties offered here goes through various experimentations like pulping, drying, smoking and roasting before it goes on the shelf.

“Sometimes, cross plantation with citrus and vanilla gives different outputs too. And when that’s done, the storing process also needs to be monitored so that we get the consistency required,” adds Ashish.

He says that they are able to experiment with each harvest as the city is open to newer blends.

Coffee Mechanics

Ganga Prabhakar, co-founder, explains that their motto is to educate coffee lovers about the varieties they offer.

“We have three estates in Srilakshmi, Bhadrapura and Kuttinkhan, each of which give us different outputs as they are micro-farmed in different soils. With the difference in elevation at which the beans are grown, the flavour differs too. Depending on the roasting technique, the shade changes from light roasted to darker,” she explains.

The more you roast it, the more caramelised it becomes. However, if almost burnt, it becomes ashy which ruins the taste. The lightly roasted ones give a tangier taste which the brewers call ‘acidity’. “The higher you roast, the lesser the acidity. And then it can become caramelised or chocolatey — depends on what you prefer.”

Third Wave Coffee Roasters

Unlike other brewers, Third Wave Coffee Roasters don’t have their own plantation. They get samples from various farms between the months of March to May which they use to roast, cup and sample before they decide which coffee they want to buy for the year.

Co-founder Ayush Bathwal says, “Most of our coffees come from Yercaud and Kerala. We work with single origin farms so that we can maintain the authenticity of the beans available. We mix the beans only if we are experimenting with certain blends.” So how does their blending and brewing process work? “We buy close to 1,000 kg of green beans which we roast according to need. Once roasted, we store them in airtight containers. Each blend last two to four weeks.

They follow the Specialty Coffee Association of America meter. They finalise the product only if the bean scores more than 80 points.

source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> Metrolife> Metrolife on the Move / by Anila Kurien, DH News Service, Bengaluru / September 30th, 2018

Coffee Day to be celebrated on Oct 1

September 29, 2018Agriculture, Business & Economy, Coffee News, Coffee, Kodagu (Coorg), Records, All, World Opinionadmin

Coffee cupping, exhibition of coffee berries to be held.

The Coffee Board of India, in association with Way Win, a farmer-producer company in the coffee sector in Wayanad, and Vikaspaedia, an initiative of the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, is organising various programmes to mark International Coffee Day on October 1.

Ports Minister Kadannappally Ramachandran will inaugurate the programme at the Town Hall here at 10 a.m. on the day.

Coffee Board Deputy director (Research) Vijayalakshmi will deliver the keynote address on the occasion.

Coffee cupping, a practice of observing the tastes and aromas of different brewed coffee varieties, would be the major attraction of the programme, organisers said in a release here on Thursday.

Exhibition of various types of coffee berries will also be held.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Kerala / by Staff Reporter / Kalpetta – September 28th, 2018

Coffee Board ropes in E&Y to prepare ‘Coffee Road Map’

September 29, 2018Business & Economy, Coffee News, Coffee, Kodagu (Coorg), Records, Alladmin

Ties up with National Institute of Public Finance and Policy for study on impact of subsidies on industry

Bengaluru :

The Coffee Board is to celebrate International Coffee Day on October 1 with a slew of partnerships. The board has roped in consulting firm Ernst & Young to prepare a strategy – “The Future of Coffee-Road Map”.

The National Institute of Public Finance and Policy will conduct a ‘Study of subsidies on coffee Industry’. Finally, the board plans to open 150 incubation centres under the Niti Aayog’s Atal Innovation Mission.

According to a senior board official, Ernst & Young would outline a strategy to improve the overall coffee sector performance across the value chain, from production to consumption, by analysing production challenges and proposing need-based interventions to strengthen small coffee growers, proposing a strategy for effective positioning of Indian coffee in the global and domestic markets, and technological interventions to overcome identified challenges.

The study would include assessment of production level challenges, value chain analysis, effective positioning of Indian coffee and drawing up a conceptual framework with technological interventions.

Impact of subsidies on coffee industry
The National Institute of Public Finance and Policy is to help in assessing the impact of various subsidies extended by the Coffee Board to farmers and exporters. The assessment report would consider how far the government incentive schemes have helped the overall coffee sector, in terms of both production as well as productivity, with suggestions on policy-level interventions required to help scale up overall coffee production as well as exports.

The key topic areas would include assessing the extent of outlay provided to implement ICDP, examining the impact of incentive schemes on production, productivity and quality of coffee, understanding implementation issues at the ground level and providing inputs to the government with regard to continuation of existing schemes as well as identifying the relevant incentive mechanism for the grow of the sector.

Atal Innovation Mission
The Centre has set up the Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) in the NITI Aayog to promote a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship in India. Towards creating world-class incubation facilities across various parts of India with suitable physical infrastructure in terms of capital equipment and operating facilities, coupled with the availability of sectoral experts for mentoring the start-ups, business planning support, access to seed capital, industry partners, training and other relevant components required for encouraging innovative start-ups, AIM is supporting the establishment of Atal Incubation Centres (AICs) that would nurture innovative start-up businesses in their pursuit to become scalable and sustainable enterprises.

For this, the AIC-CCRI Foundation for Entrepreneurship Development is being established at the Coffee Board’s head office in Bengaluru. The incubator, spread over an area of 10,000 square feet, would possess world-class infrastructure to provide space, product development laboratories, meeting rooms, auditoriums and contemporary IT infrastructure to incubatees.

The incubator would be supported by teams of national and international mentors to provide mentoring services to incubatees. Besides supporting the incubatees in Bengaluru, the AIC would also support virtual incubates through a network of partner institutions located across the country. The incubator would offer pre-incubation as well as accelerator services for coffee and agri-based start-ups. It is expected that AIC-CCRI Foundation for Entrepreneurship Development would result in the establishment of at least 150 innovative scalable businesses in the coffee and agribusiness sector in the next five years. This would contribute to growth in domestic demand for coffee and the overall development of the Indian coffee sector.

source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com / Business Line / Home / by Anil Urs / September 28th, 2018

Tata Starbucks celebrates International Coffee Week with Brewtober

September 27, 2018Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Coffee News, World Opinionadmin

Mumbai:

Tata Starbucks in India is taking its coffee heritage and inspiration to celebrate International Coffee Week this year with coffee-forward experiences and special promotions across its stores.

Recognised in delivering consistent, authentic in-store experiences, rooted in high-quality Arabica coffee, Tata Starbucks is celebrating the art of coffee from heritage to brewed innovation over a seven-day celebration titled ‘Starbucks Brewtober’, beginning October 1.

To celebrate coffee, Starbucks stores, which bring to life the Third Place experience, will feature seven international whole bean coffees handpicked from seven different parts of the coffee belt, allowing customers to ‘Travel the World in Seven Sips’ this International Coffee Day- October 1.

Other experiential activities during the week include ‘Farm to Cup’ story – an immersive coffee tasting experience that brings to the fore Starbucks’ commitment to ethically sourced coffee and its 47-year old legacy of coffee processing and roasting; ‘Starbucks Coffee Experience Bar’- a masterclass into the art, craft and science behind different cups of coffee and ‘Latte Art’ – a showcase of the craft of Starbucks partners.

On October 6, Starbucks Brewtober brings ‘Starbucks 100’ – a day Starbucks shares coffee love with all its customers by offering them any short/ tall Starbucks beverage at only Rs 100 across all its stores in India.

Continuing with the celebrations, Starbucks is also offering My Starbucks Rewards Gold Members an exclusive offer on October 7.

“At Starbucks ,we take great pride and joy in partnering with customers on their journey of coffee exploration and are committed to delivering an unparalleled coffee experience. With ‘Starbucks Brewtober’, Tata Starbucks commemorates coffee with a week-long celebration. ‘Starbucks Brewtober’ offers coffee lovers a unique way of celebrating coffee, starting with various immersive coffee experiences to the big day of ‘Starbucks 100’ – a day when Starbucks shares coffee love with its customers by offering all its short/ tall handcrafted beverages for only Rs 100,” said Veetika Deoras, Head – Marketing, Category, Digital and Loyalty at Tata Starbucks Limited.

“We hope to celebrate coffee and the spirit of Starbucks through the week and look forward to welcoming our customers in our stores,” she added.

International Coffee Week will be celebrated across all Starbucks stores in India from October 1 to 7, 2018.

SOURCE: ANI

source: http://www.siasat.com / The Siasat Daily / Home / by Syed Qayam Ali / September 26th, 2018

5 Coffee Plantations in South India That Contribute to The Coffee Culture of The Country

September 27, 2018Coffee News, Coffee, Kodagu (Coorg)admin

It won’t be wrong to say that for most of us, starting the day with a freshly brewed cup of coffee is what we look forward to! This beverage has the power to kick-start our day and instantly switch our work-mode on. It’s a beverage over which we socialise, something that is a go-to for an instant mood uplifting.

Coffee production in India is big in the South Indian states; with Karnataka accounting for 71%, followed by Kerala with 21% and Tamil Nadu producing 5%. Indian coffee is said to be the finest coffee grown in the world, with a large part of our production (80%) exported through the Suez Canal to Russia, Spain, Netherlands and France.

Let’s look at where the magic beans are cultivated down South:

Araku Valley, Andhra Pradesh

Araku Valley is a hill station in the Visakhapatnam district of Andhra Pradesh. Spread along the Eastern Ghats, the place is inhabited by different types of tribes that contribute in growing coffee in the region. In fact, the tribals have their own brand of brilliant organic coffee called Araku Emerald. Apparently, the first by a tribe in India. Other regions in Andhra Pradesh where some great coffee is produced are Chintapalli, Paderu and Maredumilli.

Coorg, Karnataka

Coorg is home to many coffee plantations that produce a good amount of the country’s Arabica and Robusta varieties. If you’d like to stay in close proximity of the plantations, then staying in one of the properties or home-stays within these plantations would be a great idea. Some options are Rainforest Retreat at Mojo Plantation, Tata Coffee’s Plantation Trails, Silver Brook Estate, and Comfort Homestay. November is a great time to visit because that’s when berry picking is in full swing.

Chikmagalur, Karnataka

Apparently, Chikmagalur is first place where coffee was introduced in India. Located in the foothills of Mullayanagiri range, it is touted as the coffee land of Karnataka. Its geography and climate makes it one of the largest coffee estates in Karnataka followed by Kodagu, Coorg and Hassan. Kerehaklu Eco Retreat is a great place to stay at because it houses 275 acres of lush green coffee plantation.

Wayanad, Kerala

One of the green, beautiful hills of Malabar region, Wayanad is located in the mountains of the majestic Western Ghats. The pleasant climate here is responsible for the ever-green forests, flowing lakes, some amazing flora and fauna and of course a variety of coffee plantations. The main varieties in the region include Rubusta and Arabica.

Yercaud, Tamil Nadu

The small, young hill station is located in the Shevaroys range of hills in Tamil Nadu. Yercaud is known for its orange groves, and fruit, spice and major coffee plantations. A perfect place to stay is the Glenrock Tea Estates because it’s a property with a fully-functioning coffee estate, which means you can witness the entire coffee-making process with a tour of their plantation. The Nilgiris District, Coonoor and Kodaikanal are other places in Tamil Nadu known for their coffee plantations.

source: http://www.india.com / India / Home> News Travel / by Charu Chowdhary / September 26th, 2018

Apps, drones, online markets as Coffee Board looks to improve crop productivity

September 15, 2018Business & Economy, Coffee News, Coffee, Kodagu (Coorg), Science & Technologyadmin

The board has launched on pilot basis a number of tech measures to help the 3.66 lakh coffee growers in the country.

Suresh Prabhu (C) at the Naya Bharat event | @CoffeeboardI/Twitter

New Delhi:

Drones, geo-tagging and a number of mobile apps are among the technological measures the government-run Coffee Board is set to introduce to improve productivity and revenue.

The board, which is under the commerce ministry, set the process in motion last week, when Suresh Prabhu, the Commerce and Industries Minister, formally launched the ‘Coffee Connect’ app.

The app will collect data from coffee plantations in the country through inbuilt geo-tagging which will help generate information about plantation location, plant material and age.

“For the first time in the 75 years of India’s Coffee Act, 1942, we are trying to infuse new technologies that will enhance productivity and yield for farmers,” said Coffee Board Secretary and CEO, Srivasta Krishna.

Krishna emphasised on the need to grow “smart coffee”, using concepts such precision agriculture and smart agriculture to maximise yields from the existing coffee growing regions.

The board hopes that these technological measures will help increase profits of farmers, particularly in the export markets.

‘Way to hike profits’

According to Krishna, a cup of Indian coffee sells for $3 to $4 in the US, of which an Indian farmer gets only 5 cents. With technology, he said, this could rise to 10 cents.

The move comes amid fears that the next season could see the coffee output drop to its lowest in two decades due to the unprecedented rains in the two top crop producing regions in the country – Kodagu in Karnataka and Wayanad in Kerala.

According to a Bloomberg report, output in the year starting October 1 may be about 25 per cent lower than the 3,16,000 metric tons estimated by the Coffee Board for 2017-18.

Coffee is cultivated by 3.66 lakh coffee farmers in the country, 98 per cent of whom are small farmers. Typically, a small farmer is one who owns less than 25 acres.

Apps galore and a call centre

The ‘Coffee Connect’ app is among a number of apps that the board has already launched on a pilot basis.

The app allows users to get in touch with the coffee board’s extension officers, who provide services to coffee farmers.

At present, there are 170 Coffee Board extension personnel — or one extension officer per 2,153 farmers.

The app, officials hope, will enable better information exchange between Coffee Board personnel and those on the ground.

The board has also launched, on a pilot basis, a suite of apps to provide solutions to challenges in rainfall, pests and diseases.

Some of the app features are hyper-local weather forecasting, early detection of coffee crop pests such as the White Stem Borer and predicting the probability of Leaf Rust disease.

This app also has a blockchain-based market-place that allows coffee growers and farmers to directly deal with customers, including multinational firms.

“These are all wonderful efforts. These tech solutions, however, need more effort, and push from all stakeholders to make them really effective,” said Mohan Alwares, a coffee grower from Mudigere in Karnataka.

Alwares lauded the blockchain-based market but urged the board to increase awareness of it.

Rajeev Chaudhary, general manager and the chief risk officer, Agriculture Insurance Company of India, said such measures will hold the board in good stead.

“The Coffee Board’s various tech implementations including the pilot blockchain-based marketplace would make it a frontrunner among the other boards for crops in India. Other boards, however, will most likely follow suit”.

Drones Used

Another proposal that the board is exploring promoting is the use of drones in agriculture.

At the board’s event last Tuesday, several drone start-ups presented proposals, arguing that their use will improve the efficiency of pesticide use and spray.

“A farmer might take 2-3 hours to spray an acre with pesticide; a drone will do this in less than 10 minutes,” said Rahat Kulshreshtha, the CEO of the drone start-up Quidich Innovation Labs. “Using drones we found that 30 per cent less pesticide can be used and since it can be done remotely, farmers are saved from the harmful effects of direct contact with pesticides”.

Alwares, however, isn’t sure that drones will help in coffee plantations in India. “Unlike in Brazil where coffee is grown in open cultivation, in India coffee is largely a crop grown in shade,” he said. “If a coffee plant is 5 feet tall, there are trees as tall as 50 to 100 feet growing over it to provide shade. So I’m not entirely sure how drones can be used.”

Chaudhary of the Agriculture Insurance India foresees drones being increasingly used in other crops. He says drones for aerial surveillance will be especially helpful in monitoring high-value and high-risk crops such as cotton, groundnut, soybean and plantation crops like tea. Agri insurance companies will likely make more drone purchases he said, adding that Maharashtra leads the pack in this sector.

source: http://www.theprint.in / The Print / Home> Governance / by Regina Nihindukulasuriya / September 13th, 2018

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