Concerted measures undertaken by the Coffee Board of India over the past 11 years has borne coffee’s fruit, with the country’s coffee exports jumping almost 125 per cent, according to data released by the central government.
The exports, to Europe primarily (including Italy, Germany and Belgium) and to the Middle East nations, Korea and Japan stood at USD 1.28 billion in 2023-24, the data suggests. In 2022-23, they were USD 1.14 billion.
India – the seventh-largest producer and fifth-largest exporter of coffee in the world – has an almost two million-strong workforce in the sector. Its share in the world’s coffee production is 3.5 per cent, producing about 3.6 lakh tonnes of coffee a year.
The Coffee Board of India, headquartered in Bengaluru, Karnataka, has been making efforts to push exports and support the business community here for value addition by backing individuals, self-help groups, and growers engaged in coffee production.
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Besides offering online issuance of registration-cum-membership certificate (RCMC) along with digital signature to growers, the board also issues export permits, and certificates of origin. There is also offered transit/freight assistance to cultivators in order to maximise earnings.
The government, on its part, provides ₹3 per kg for export of value-added products; ₹2 for shipments of high-value green coffee to far-off high-value markets such as the US, Canada, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, and Finland, Norway, and Denmark.
It also pays 40 per cent cost of machinery, with a ceiling of ₹15 lakh for installation of roasting, grinding and packaging machinery.
“These measures are helping us reach newer markets,” said founder of Vidi’s Coffee, Divya Shree G S.
In India, coffee beans are cultivated under a diverse canopy of native and mixed shade trees, a system that supports the area’s biodiversity and ensures water and soil conservation. This also helps in enhancing carbon sequestration and aims to sustain livelihoods for small and marginal farmers by offering opportunities for crop diversification, informed M Kurma Rao, CEO and secretary, Coffee Board of India.
Veteran coffee grower from Coorg, Bose Mandana, said that India is one of the few countries that promote shade-grown coffee.
“This helps in protecting forests. It is a sustainable way to grow coffee and it will help India deal with EU’s deforestation regulation,” he said.
South India Coffee Company’s (SICC) founders, the husband-wife duo of Akshay Dashrath and Komal Sable, said that they are partnering with Indian coffee producers and roasters to put Indian coffee on the world map.
“There is a huge potential to increase exports of specialty coffee from India,” said Komal, adding that SICC operates in the US, UK, and India, with end-to-end logistics and warehousing capabilities for the sector.
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