STiR coffee and tea magazine

STiR coffee and tea 37 www.hertz-selck.com We are fl avour composers and scientists, developing customised premium fl avours for the tea industries. Creativity and passion are in our DNA, as our 90-year tradition and unique fl avour expertise – Made in Germany. We deliver complete concepts, from the idea to the end product. Contact us for more information: info@hertz-selck.com WE FLAVOUR THE WORLD a heavily tribal-populated area dependent on government support in place of wider economic opportunities. In neighboring Sikkim, Nikhil Prad- han, who runs the Bermiok estate, de- cided to add coffee cultivation to his tea farm in 2015 to diversify from tea. Says Pradhan, "It's not a volume game. We have to go specialty, with high grown, fermented, and other innovation." The prices of coffee and tea remain widely disparate – Bermiok's first flush tea can fetch about $110 per kilo, while their highest value coffee (organically grown) brings a maximum of $25 per kilo. How- ever, coffee is a welcome addition for tea planters whose tea harvests stop for winter, which marks the beginning of the coffee season. Currently, they grow 40% of Bermiok's coffee while the rest is sourced from local coffee farmers. Sikkim is uniquely positioned as the entire production is consumed within the state. With an emphasis on supporting lo- cal coupled with the growth of cafes and hospitality, Bermiok's coffee has found its market right at home. While their tea is traded, they retail their entire coffee pro- duction near home, perhaps a case study of how a domestic market can support locally grown and made coffee. Indian coffee in 2024 Taking the energy and optimism from WCC forward, Indian coffee needs to continue what has begun – emphasiz- ing quality, transparency, education, and promotion. "There's a lot of potential for do- mestic and exports, adds Dr. Mandap- pa. "If half the population of India has 1 cup of coffee every day, we will have a glut." "This can be the year of RTD (ready-to-drink) beyond instant coffee," says Mathur, adding that many brands now offer cold brew cans and bottled cold coffee accessible via a new genera- tion of supermarkets. He calls RTD "a step above instant coffee," acknowledg- ing that convenience still plays a role for consumers. What is needed to tie it all in is a sin- gle branding exercise for Indian coffee. Bopanna talks about the growing interest displayed by Indian coffee drinkers at the WCC, which encouraged coffee grow- ers. "We, as growers, have to push our brand," he reiterates. "We got a boost in the internal market with the WCC, but across the world, coffee consumers don't associate coffee with India. We need to mar- ket ourselves to consumers and build our brand." A significant aspect of Indian coffee is that it's cultivated in an inherently eco-friendly way. Carbon sinks, sustainability, and green economy may be new catchphrases. But for India's coffee farms, they've been a way of life either by design or due to the economies of scale. India's coffee plantations have always had an agro-forestry ap- proach, and this goes beyond shade-grown to multi-cropping and inclusion of native species to support a thriving biodiversity. It's a story waiting to be told. Adds Bopanna, "India is a powerhouse of technology and creative talent. If we can lift the profile of Indian coffee, the benefit will go to the small growers, making coffee cultivation economically sustainable." Ultimately, how Indian coffee leverages its cur- rent strengths will influence its future place in global coffee.

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