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The State-run Coffee Board has taken the e-commerce route to carry out generic promotion of pure Indian coffees.
The Board started marketing about six variants of pure coffees under the India Coffee and Coffees of India brands including the Geographical Indication (GI)-tagged coffees from Coorg and Chikkamagaluru on the e-commerce platform Amazon recently.
It is also in the process of launching these products on other platforms such as Flipkart and Meesho among others.
The main objective behind this latest initiative is to popularise pure coffees across the country and increase the visibility so that the farmers’ share in the consumer spend goes up, Coffee Board officials said.
“We want to create a niche for pure coffees and that’s why we have got into processing and packing, and placed these products on Amazon while discussions are on with Flipkart and other platforms,” said NN Narendra, Director of Finance, Coffee Board.
“Our aim is only to promote and not for profit,” he said. The Board — which is mainly tasked with the development of the country’s coffee sector — has kept the margins at a minimum to cover the operational costs.
A cup of cappuccino with coffee beans around.
The Board, which has set up a roasting and grinding facility at its premises in Bengaluru is shipping out the pure coffees based on the orders received. The quality of these premium coffees is tested by the Quality Division of the Coffee Board. It also has the FSSAI certification for the Coffee of India Brand.
The Board will be procuring the GI-tagged coffees from growers in the respective regions while ensuring the quality. While the GI-registered Coorg Arabica Coffee and GI-registered Chikkamagaluru Arabica Coffee are being sold through the e-commerce platforms, the Board expects to make available other GI-registered coffees from Araku Valley and other locations soon.
Coffee is one of the main commodities in the Indian agri-export basket. About two-thirds of the close to 3.5 lakh tonnes coffees grown in the country is exported, while the rest is consumed in the domestic market.
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