The woman behind the first coffee lab of its kind in the private sector in India, Sunalini Menon has been conferred the Lifetime Achievement award by the International Women's Coffee Alliance, Founding Committee, USA.
The third recipient of the award, Menon is recognised as an outstanding example of the role women can play in the coffee industry by the IWCA at its meet in Seattle on April 17.
"Overwhelmed" by the award, she told PTI, "We still have a long way to go and need to continue working together to increase global coffee consumption".
The vision of Coffee lab is not only to help growers to prepare their coffee into special branded entities but also enable preparation of various green coffee blends, which would be accepted and paid for with a premium price by the international market, Menon said.
This would require an upgradation in the quality of Indian coffee as a whole. Coffee lab is also looking at setting up a training academy to help growers improve coffee produce as per market requirements and at the same time generate various types of professionals.
These professionals will not only have expertise in processing techniques but also cup quality evaluation and will be trained to roast and brew a perfect cup of coffee, Menon said.
"We are also looking at establishing a coffee museum, which will house artefacts connected with coffee, ranging from coffee pots from all over the world, to coffee roasters, grinders, coffee brewing equipment and coffee mugs", she said.
Menon is a Coffee Corps Volunteer, a group wing of the Coffee Quality Institute of the Specialty Coffee Association of America drawn up to upgrade the lives of coffee farmers across the world by training them in all aspects from growing and processing to export and brewing into the cup.
She recently carried out an assignment in Zambia during the East African Fine Coffee Association Conference and Exhibition where she was a member of the International jury to evaluate taste profiles of coffee from member countries of EAFCA, including Tanzania and Ethiopia.
