STiR coffee and tea magazine

36 STiR coffee and tea | 2024 Issue 1 (February / March) IB Bopanna, owner of Chombuka Coorg Coffee standing with friends in his arabica field. Growth of specialty coffee The specialty coffee movement, which is seeing global growth, is also enjoy- ing its moment in India. Indian coffee has been scoring well at the cupping table. Dr. IM Mandappa, who heads Coffee Quality at the Coffee Board, places the SCA cupping average at 84-86, calling it a "decent score." On spe- cialty coffee, he says, "We are at a nascent stage but growing exponentially. There are 40 to 60 farmers who are going all out and focusing on specialty coffee as a segment. Premiums are good. Interest and awareness among the younger coffee audience is great." The board recommends coffee farmers interested in adding specialty cof- fee begin by converting 20% into specialty while relying on bulk coffee to generate sufficient funds to cover expenses. Growers are encouraged to iden- tify a market for specialty coffee, without which this transition will not yield any benefit. Switching to specialty coffee production calls for basic infrastruc- ture upgrades with a greater emphasis on post-harvest processing care and technology know-how. Komal Sable and Akshay Dashrath started the South India Coffee Com- pany in 2017, beginning with their family estate in Coorg. The couple, based in London, saw a gap and an opportunity for Indian coffee, or, as Sable says, "I couldn't see any recognition for Indian coffee. A lot of work goes into coffee production, and due respect must be given to the coffee producers. And pro- ducers must know where their coffee is going." SICC began with small batches of single-estate coffees, setting up a direct supply chain with roasters in the UK. The challenge for them was that Indian coffee was not a big player in specialty. Although it stood out in a blind cupping, buyers had yet to acknowl- edge its quality. "We need to be known for our coffees," says Sable. "Four years ago, it was tough. Now, buyers are seeing the work being done and the coffees coming out and are excited. I tell the roasters to come down to India and see what we are doing, where and how coffee is grown, and who grows it – we don't need much more to sell." IB Bopanna, coffee planter and founder of Chombuka Coorg Coffee Company points out that Indian coffee today is a filler. "Specialty cof- fee is the cachet that can pull up the rest of Indian coffee. But we need to move beyond specialty cof- fee. We need high-quality coffee that we proudly call 'Indian coffee," he said. Growth in Indian robusta Indian coffee is also seeing a shift towards robusta. Globally, too, robusta now stands at 40% of cof- fee production. As a plant varietal, robusta is har- dier and yields higher than arabica, incentivizing Arabica farmers to switch. In the global market, Indian robusta continues to command good prices as it has always been a coffee of repute. What needs greater attention is to produce top-class robusta that can hold its own with the best in class arabica. That robusta can rise to specialty ranks is finally acknowledged; it's no longer the lesser of the two coffees. In 2015, the Uganda Coffee Au- thority and the Coffee Quality Institute introduced the Fine Robusta Standards and Protocols, which showed how robusta can be processed for better outcomes. Robusta is finding its place in the specialty coffee spectrum in small steps. Coffee expert Sunalini Menon points out that at the tasting sessions held during the World Coffee Conference, the quality of Indian robusta surprised the attendees. In Coorg, Chombuka has begun to market a high-grown fine robusta. "Roasters also need to sit up and take notice of ro- busta," says IB Bopanna, pointing out that climate change is impacting arabica more than robusta. "Better quality robusta is the need of the hour, and India is well positioned to achieve it." Meanwhile, at Sable's SICC, research is under- way on another varietal, the Coffea Excelsa, which shows greater climate resilience and is proving to be a low intervention choice. Growth in non-traditional areas "I am very excited for the non-traditional areas," says Dr. Mandappa. While the traditional coffee- growing regions can no longer expand and have hit saturation, the non-traditional areas offer new terroir. New coffee farmers can enjoy the learn- ings that Indian coffee has gained and have access to experts. In 2023, one of the winners for Flavors of India was an arabica from Odisha, produced by a tribal Farmer Producer Organization. From the Eastern Ghats of Andhra Pradesh, Araku Coffee has shown how Indian coffee can be marketed as a single-origin coffee. And from northeast India, Nagaland is increasingly becoming a terroir to reckon with for specialty coffee. Coffee cultivation began in earnest about 15 years ago; today, about 1,000 hectares are shade- grown. Coffee is seen as a welcome opportunity in

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