The Hindu Business Line : Filter coffee in a jiffy

A lesser-known Mysore-based Hindustan Food & Beverages (HFB) has developed a technology to produce liquid coffee concentrate and plans to commercialise it on a large scale.

All one needs to do is add hot milk to about 20 ml of liquid coffee concentrate to produce a cuppa.

While retaining the taste of freshly brewed filter coffee, the liquid concentrate offers a great degree of convenience, said Mr Harold Pereira, Chief Executive, HFB.

Promoted by three planters from Chikmagalur and Kodagu, along with two food technologists in Mysore, HFB has major plans to take its product to the retail market, especially in the non-traditional coffee drinking areas, Mr Pereira said.

HFB is planning to tie up with a food and beverage major to take its product to the retail market, Mr Pereira said. The company has already come up with two brands `Filter Café' and `Cappachillo,' the cold-coffee version.

HFB, currently, has a capacity of producing 1,000 litres of coffee concentrate per day, which it plans to scale up to 5,000 litres per day in two to three months. The company plans to raise funds from banks and private investors, Mr Pereira said without divulging details.

Currently, HFB supplies its coffee concentrate to Café Coffee Day and some hotels and restaurants in Mysore. The coffee concentrate is also sold in select retail outlets in Mysore and Bangalore, he said.

"We aim to target the instant coffee drinkers through our brands," Mr Pereira said. The shelf-life of liquid coffee concentrate is about six months. Under refrigerated condition, a container once opened, could be stored for about seven days.

Coffee brewing is traditionally an elaborate and tedious process. "Our study shows that about 25 per cent of the brewed coffee in households is normally is wasted or consumed next day," Mr Pereira. Mr Anil Bhandari, Coffee Board member, felt that the milk or newspaper distribution chain could be leveraged to deliver sachets of freshly brewed coffee concentrate to tap the non-traditional areas, which in turn could boost the domestic consumption.

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