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Fest brews Indian brand of coffee for global marketing

Fakir Chand in Bangalore

The aroma of the rich Indian coffee brew wafted through the ambiance of the venue where the first Indian International Coffee Festival was held in the Garden City of Bangalore during the second weekend of February.

The texture of native Arabicas or Robustas variety was so blended and refined that the fest set off tongues wagging and nostrils blowing while sipping, inhaling the purity and specialty of Indian coffees.

The 'flavors of India' made the 70-odd foreign delegates, including roasters, tasters, importers, buyers, and cognoscenti to sit up and take notice of the quality and strength of Asia's oldest cuppa.

The beleaguered Indian coffee sector has at last woken up to the harsh reality of brewing a global strategy to market its products than merely selling its bumper produce through international auctions year after year and getting rewarded for only its raw quality than flavor.

"It's better late than never," was the cliché from festival convenor Anil Bhandari, when rediff.com asked him why it took so long for the stakeholders to host such a festival for the first time, and that too when coffee prices were reeling under a 30-year low, with global supplies far outstripping demand since the millennium began.

"It's a fact that the key players in the plantation sector have been found wanting in carving a niche for themselves in the global arena with their brands to promote and market the Indian variety of coffee as they were smugly contended in just exporting about 80 percent of their produce and fetching a fistful of dollars in foreign exchange," Bhandari lamented.

Having discovered the intrinsic value of their produce and the unique aroma of their blends, the stakeholders, led by the Coffee Board and the United Planters' Association of India had pooled their resources to organise at a short notice a three-day international jamboree for promoting and hard selling Indian coffee to international buyers.

Rated among the world's best 'other' milds, the rich Indian coffee has several characteristics as its two types (Arabica and Robusta) with four varieties and several grades are not only entirely shade grown, but also hand picked in plantations that are traditionally eco-friendly.

The festival received an overwhelming response and dispelled the gloom and doom that gripped coffee planters, processors, roasters, traders and exporters as each of them could see a ray of hope in reviving the fortunes of their sector in the international markets as well as in the domestic sector, where consumption has been stagnating over a decade.

"The gala event which also exhibited the flavors of India displaying winners of the country's first-ever Cupping Competition had not only instilled a sense of pride in the stakeholders, but also gave them immense confidence to take on international brands in the global market," Coffee Board chairperson Lakshmi Ventakachalam claimed.

Though Indian share in global production as well as exports is around 4.5-4.7 per cent (2000-2001), their Arabicas and Robustas are most preferred by roasters in Europe and the US as they blend best in churning out the kind of flavors liked or preferred most by consuming markets such as Russia, Italy, Germany, France, Spain and the US.

"The game-plan hereafter is not to just export the beans and allow roasters in Europe and the US 'make a killing' by processing and turning them into a global commodity for value addition to fetch quantum prices.

By inviting international buyers, importers, and experts to this festival, we are telling the world coffee community that we too could export the finished product cost-effectively for promoting and marketing the 'Made in India' brand of coffee varieties," Upasi president IJJ Rebello asserted.

It is not that there have been no Indian-made coffee brands sold worldwide, what with specialty coffees Mansooned Malabar, Mysore Nuggets Extra Bold, and Robusta Kapi Royale serving the gourmet market as special preparations in the western markets. Yet, they constituted a mere 4,107 tons, fetching only Rs 1.99 billion in 1999-00.

But with a total production of 301,200 metric tons and an export of 246,325 metric tons of coffee beans during the fiscal year 2000-01, the potential for exporting the same in form of finished products or brands is tremendous as it amounts to value addition and higher price realisation.

With international coffee prices dipping to all-time low of 53.01 US cents per pound in the case of Arabica during 1999-00 from a high of 101.07 US cents in 1997-98, and 29.51 US cents in the case of Robusta from a high of 74.13 US cents in the respective corresponding years, the value of experts have been declining alarmingly.

Though in quantum, exports have been going up steadily touching 246,325 metric tons during fiscal 2000-01, the value of return was only $333.53 million against a return of $477.04 million for a quantum export of 179,059 metric tons during fiscal 1997-98.

If the first coffee fest turned out to be a huge success with the active participation of about 600 delegates from all over the country, especially from its producing states of Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu, the brain-storming sessions and hectic buyer-seller parleys spread over the weekend gave them tremendous hope with expectations of better days.

While growers and other intermediaries continue to grapple with the on-going crisis, the Coffee Board through the Union Commerce Ministry has petitioned the Planning Commission to sanction Rs 4.10 billion as part of the 10th five-year plan (2002-07) outlay for the rapid growth and promotion of Indian coffee in the domestic and foreign markets.

"If the proposed outlay is sanctioned, about Rs 1 billion will be spent in aggressively marketing the Indian coffee brands in international as well as the domestic market to boost consumption from the current 60,000 tonnes," Venkatachalm affirmed.

Keeping in view the recommendations made in the McKinsey report and the measures outlined in a survey-cum-study by the Ahmedabad-based Indian Institute of Management, additional secretary for plantations in the ministry L V Saptharishi told the conference that a professional agency would be engaged in actively promoting Indian coffee brands in the hot markets of Europe and the US, besides tapping emerging markets like Japan and China.

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