The Hindu Business Line : How does the coffee taste … Spicy? Peppery?

Chennai, Dec. 3Ten years ago, a roaster from abroad visiting a coffee festival asked Mr K.A. Bopanna of Badra Estates in Karnataka to describe the coffee produced in his plantation. Mr Bopanna replied: “Plantation A, AB” but the roaster was not satisfied. Frustrated, the roaster asked: “Tell me how does your coffee taste?”

“We had no answer and were embarrassed. That was because we never knew how our coffee tasted,” he says, recalling the incident. “It was then that we woke up.”

He made a visit to Coffee Labs Ltd owned by Ms Sunalini Menon and began training his staff. “We first started by segregating our coffee. We learnt the significance of quality picking,” Mr Bopanna says, adding that he, along with others in his company, began attending a training programme of Coffee Labs and the Coffee Board. “We also started attending more fairs and exhibitions and learnt the basics of cupping in robusta and Arabica,” he said.

Quality parameters

Badra Estates began implementing quality parameters, trained its employees, and fine-tuned berry picking. “Once we picked ripe berries in bags, we began keeping them under the shade for weighing. This improved the quality,” says Mr Bopanna.

Even at the pulp stage there was sorting, and packaging was done in quality gunny bags. “We rested it for 25 days before curing,” he says.

During various interactions, the firm found out that coffee was bought on taste and not just on appearance. That forced Badra Estates to fine-tune processing to cater to specific taste profiles. “We then began to get premiums for our coffee,” says Mr Bopanna.

Badra Estates also enrolled itself as a member of Specialty Coffee Association of the US and similar bodies in India and Europe. “What we have to bear in mind is that there is a huge potential for specialty coffee, like wine. In view of our efforts, currently two-thirds of the coffee produced in our estates is sold at a premium,” he says.

Buyer relationship

The company built a special relationship with its buyers, who began to provide traceability for its coffee. “Badra Estate is one of the fine examples of how estate branding can help in a big way. It helps coffee producers get a high premium,” says a Commerce Ministry official.

According to Mr Bopanna, when coffee prices were lower, the premium was higher. “We have also taken care to not demand the same percentage of premium when prices are higher. It helps to have a better relationship with the buyer,” he says. “Such relationships help to reduce the risk of volatility in the coffee market,” he said.

Badra Estates now produces Balehonnur Corona in robusta parchment, Kerkie Coobali Carona and Bettadakhan in Arabica, which are all specialty coffees.

These are used in the normal cup as well as Xpresso coffees in Italy. “We get a premium of 25-30 per cent for our coffee,” Mr Bopanna says. Not surprisingly, Badra Estates has won the Coffee Board’s awards for Finest Arabica and Best Estate Branded Robusta.

Ask Mr Bopanna to describe his estate coffee now, and he will say: “Spicy, peppery … robusta.”

Estate branding and measures to improve the cupping quality have yielded good results, with Italy becoming the largest buyer of arabica and robusta.

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