Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Saturday, Apr 23, 2005
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Saturday, Apr 23, 2005 |
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Corporate
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Diversification Tata Coffee on diversification mode Our Bureau
Mr M.H. Ashraff, Managing Director, Tata Coffee - Mahesh Harilal
Kochi , April 22 TATA Coffee has come a long way from being a plantation company, focusing on coffee, to becoming a diversified company with a wide range of interests. "The plantation activities of the company, which now include coffee, pepper and vanilla, contribute about 50 per cent of the company's turnover. Almost 45 per cent comes from instant coffee and other divisions. And 5 per cent comes from the sunrise timber division," said Mr M.H. Ashraff, Managing Director of Tata Coffee, at a press conference. With Tata Coffee entering into an agreement with Tata Motors for furbishing the interiors of their buses and coaches for their international and domestic customers, the growth prospects of the timber division are huge. The timber division is expected to contribute 10 per cent (from 5 per cent) of the company's total turnover this year and sustain the growth momentum. Following a notification by the Kerala Government permitting plantation companies to earmark 5 per cent of their area for tourism, Tata Coffee is waiting to enter the tourism business in Coorg in Karnataka. Despite these diversification plans, Tata Coffee will continue to remain a plantation company and it has no plans to divest its estate operations, Mr Ashraff said. The timber value addition is a natural spin-off from the plantation business. Periodic and selective thinning of silver oak, which is grown as a shade tree for coffee, is needed to ensure light and shade balance, Mr H. Huq, Executive Director of the company, said. The felled trees are later converted into value-added marine plywood. Now, further value-addition is being imparted and it is converted into sound absorbent and fire retardant wood of international standards. This superior quality wood will be used to furbish the interiors of the Tata buses and coaches. The timber division is also entering into an agreement with a Malaysian company to manufacture finger jointed wood products, which will help convert poor quality wood into high quality planks and products. All kinds of timber can be used by this technology unlike the conventional method where the finger jointing technology was unique to specific kinds of wood, Mr Huq said.
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