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For the first time the Coffee Board, Coffeelab Pvt Ltd (run by Ms Sunalini Menon), and a group of speciality coffee growers from the country have made a combined bid to promote India's speciality coffees on the global platform.
The three groups came together and organised a session on ‘Flavourful coffees of India' at the Speciality Coffee Association of Europe (SCAE).
At the SCAE meet held at Maastricht, Netherlands recently, a dedicated session on India's coffees, cupping of single origin speciality coffees and direct interaction with growers and prospective buyers were organised.
Meet To get feedback
About 30 participants, mainly roasters, buyers and quality experts from 15 to 18 countries from Europe, US, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Japan and Israel took part in the exclusive session on India. The participants had one-one meet after the coffee cupping to get a feedback.
To keep up with the changes happening in the coffee industry, the Coffee Board has made a beginning by showcasing speciality coffee grown in India. The board has classified Monsooned Malabar (both arabica and robusta), Mysore Nuggets and Robusta Coffee Royale as speciality coffees.
According to traders, there are about 20 to 25 coffee estates in the country that are promoting their coffees in different geographies in the world. The quantity exported by them range between 800 and 1,200 tonnes. Since it is an individual effort the exact quantity is not clear.
Intention and aim
A senior Coffee Board official said: “The main intention was to expose some of the finest coffees India grows in addition to commercial coffees which European countries sources.”
“The trend in the coffee market is to move towards single origin estate specific coffees. Here the consumers are willing to pay 25 to 30 per cent premium,” said Mr Nishant Gurjer, Managing Partner, Sethuraman Estates and Kaapi Royale Coffee.
“When consumers are willing to pay a huge premium for the coffee they buy, they want to know the region it is coming and some even ask for a particular block,” he said.
The Indian delegation was led by Ms Vijayalakshmi Joshi, Additional Secretary, Union Commerce Ministry. The Coffee Board was represented by its Chairman, Mr Jawaid Akhtar, the Director-Finance, Ms Roop Rashi, and the Head (Quality), Dr Basavaraj.
The growers and industry were represented by Mr D.M. Purnesh, Managing Director, Classic Group; Mr S Appadurai, Managing Director Sangameshwar Coffee Estates; Mr V. Murali, Director Lingapur Estate; Mr Nishant Gurjer, Managing Partner, Sethuraman Estates; Mr K.D. Thimmaiah, General Manager, Aspinwall & Company; and three winners of Coffee Board's ‘Flavour of India competition'.
Speciality Coffee Exports
According to Coffee Board statistics, of the 8,405.8 tonnes exported in the first six months of this calendar year (2011), Mysore Nuggets EB was 696.9 tonnes, Monsooned Malabar AA 1,721 tonnes, Monsooned Robusta AA 663.2 tonnes, Monsooned Arabica Triage 129 tonnes, Monsooned Robusta Triage 12 tonnes, Monsooned Basanally 357.2 tonnes, Robusta Kapi Royale 4,826.5 tonnes.
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