Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/491365
38 STiR tea & coffee industry international R Driven by untapped domestic curiosity, one of the world's top commodity suppliers of coffee is poised to join the lucrative ranks of value-added specialty coffee markets. Opportunity India ohan Kuriyan, Shravan D.S., and Chandini D. Maneesh share a rich coffee inheritance. It is said that India's youth shun the coffee planter's life but this genera- tion of men and women are well educated, well trained, and optimistic that a golden age is unfolding. Their energy and enthusiasm is reviving the once tightly regulated commodity. In the 1950s their grandfathers became stewards of the coffee estates planted by the British 150 years past. Their fathers transformed India into the sixth most productive coffee growing country in the world, according to the International Coffee Organiza- tion.* Production rose to 311,520 metric tons last calendar year, earning India US$838 million, a twelve-fold increase in export value since 1990, according to the ICO. Now it is their turn to develop a domestic market of consumers who brew coffee at home and frequent specialty cafes where they are comfortable discussing single estate attributes with Indian baristas competing for the World Barista Championship. Until the 1990s when India deregulated the coffee industry, coffee was viewed much like rubber and spice and a host of agricultural commodities with export value. Among growers quality was a matter of pride not profit. The best Arabica was of- ten diluted in pools and packaged as undistinguished blends. Robusta was destined for soluble coffee factories and cheap export to Eastern Europe. Italy was India's largest export market seeking robusta prized for its espresso blend- ing characteristics. Arabica loving Italians had cultivated a close relationship with some growers since independence but robusta accounted for 60% to 70% of the coffee grown. High-elevation washed Arabica was produced in limited quantity. Total output was 15,000 metric tons in 1950. Today India's coffee entrepreneurs can market their coffees anywhere in the world. Single estate Arabica and select washed robusta earns big dollars abroad. While getting a premium price in domestic grocery stores remains difficult, the new genera- tion of coffee planters is marketing to appreciative consumers willing to wait in line at coffee shops like Café Coffee Day, Barista-Lavazza, Starbucks-Tata, Café Noir restau- rants, and even McDonald's McCafé. Café culture, firmly rooted in Bangalore and the south, is now thriving in Mumbai, Delhi and even tea-stronghold Kolkata. *ICO reported India's total coffee production at 5.19 million 60-kilo bags in 2013 or 311,520,000 kilos (311,520 metric tons). Global production is estimated at 145 million bags. The top five producers are Brazil, Vietnam, Indonesia, Colombia and Ethiopia. By Dan Bolton