Inflationary concerns in the Western markets of Europe and the US have fuelled demand for low-priced Indian instant coffees. Shipments of instant coffees have registered a 13 per cent volume growth during the April-June quarter over the same period a year ago, with countries such as Germany, Italy, Belgium and the US scaling up their purchases of the brew from India.

In traditional destinations such as Italy, Germany and Belgium, where the roast and ground (R&G) is a preferred beverage, the demand for Indian instant coffees is on the rise. For example in Italy, the largest market for Indian coffee beans, shipments of the instant variety have more than doubled in the April-June quarter this year to 993 tonnes compared with 487 tonnes during the same period a year ago. Similarly, shipments of instant coffee to Germany have seen a near 10-fold growth to 992.97 tonnes (94.31 tonnes), while those to Belgium have doubled to 537.81 tonnes (273 tonnes).

Instant coffees or value-added coffees are produced from the low-priced robusta cherry varieties. Manufacturers of instant coffee in India such as CCL Products and Tata Coffee among others, import the low-priced robusta beans from countries such as Vietnam to process them as value-added coffee and re-export to markets in Russia, Europe and the US.

Looking to buy more

Coffee Board CEO and Secretary K G Jagadeesha attributed the rise in Indian instant coffee shipments to the growing inflationary concerns in the Western world. “Also, our exports of value-added coffees to Russia are performing well and they are looking to import more from India as they have stopped importing from other countries,” he said.

Instant coffee shipments to Russia jumped 36 per cent during the first quarter to 7,882.28 tonnes compared with 5,785 tonnes in the year-ago period.

Ramesh Rajah, President, Coffee Exporters Association, said with rising inflationary concerns globally, people everywhere are now looking for lower-priced alternatives and better-value products. As coffee is a regular consumption product, the demand for instant coffees is on the rise.

Order backlog

Rajah also attributed the growth in shipments to the order backlog from last year, while shipments of instant coffees to European countries have increased on a lower base.

India had exported record 1.21 lakh tonnes of instant coffee during the 2021 calendar year. Going by the current trend, the shipments are likely to surpass the last year’s levels. Instant coffee shipments in the first half of calendar 2022 are up around 6 per cent at 62,902 tonnes compared with 59,430 tonnes in the same period a year ago

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