Who Is The Father Of Coffee Production In India

The official coffee production started under British rule but it gained momentum only after independence. Today India exports 80% of its products to the US and European countries.

The history of a coffee plantation in India is intriguing as it all started with coffee beans smuggled illegally to India without knowing how well these foreign beans grew in the time following. And today after almost four centuries, India contributes almost 4.5% of the total global production of coffee.

Grown in the shade, Indian coffee is said to be the finest brew in the world
There are over 250,000 coffee growers in the country
India exports almost 80% of its production
Karnataka (71%), Kerala (21%), and Tamil Nadu (5%) are the leading coffee-growing states in India
Indian brew is also called “Indian monsoon coffee” as it largely depends on monsoon rainfall

Baba Budan, an Indian hermit revered by both Muslims and Hindus, is credited for introducing coffee to India. And there is a story behind this 16th-century Sufi saint smuggling the beans to India.

Story of Baba Budan

It is said that Baba Budan brought seven raw beans of coffee from the port of Mocha, Yemen during his Hajj pilgrimage. Yemenis were the largest coffee growers in the world and they used to export the beans in the roasted or baked form to prevent others from growing coffee. Also, it was a way to establish their ownership of coffee. But today the world looks forward to coffee manufacturers in India to fulfill their demand.

Baba Budan smuggled seven fresh beans under the cover of his beard to India and spread those beans in the hills of Chikmagalur in present-day Karnataka. That was the start of coffee production in India but the serious cultivation was started only in the 18th century when British entrepreneurs turned forests into commercial coffee plantations. And by the turn of the 19th century, it was declared a commercial crop.

Coffee Plantation

India is the world’s sixth-largest coffee producer. It is produced in the forests under the thick canopies in the Western Ghats – A UNESCO World Heritage site. There are roughly 250,000 cultivators involved in coffee production in India and 98% of them are small growers doing cultivation on small farms. While Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu are called the traditional areas, some non-traditional areas in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha and the “Seven Sister States of India” have also been developed for growing coffee.

In the 1940s, Indian filter coffee which is a sweet milky coffee prepared from roasted beans became a commercial success. But coffee production saw a considerable jump in the 1970s when it grew from 68,948 tonnes in 1971-72 to 120,000 tonnes in 1979-80. In the coming years, it grew more than 30% and was rivaled only by Uganda. But the credit for this growth goes to the setting up of a Coffee Board of India by an act of parliament in 1942.

Coffee Board of India

Managed by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry of the government of India, the board is entrusted with the task of promoting coffee production in India. Until 1995, the board used to promote the production of multiple growers from a pooled supply, but it changed after the economic liberalization in India. Post-liberalization, marketing coffee became a private sector activity.

The traditional duties of the board included conducting research for developing better coffee, providing financial assistance to small planters, safeguarding working conditions for laborers working in plantations, and managing the surplus pool of unsold produce. And these tasks were in addition to the primary task of promotion, sale, and consumption of the brew in Indian and abroad.

Varieties

There are four main varieties of coffee in India – Kent, S.795, Cauvery, and Selection 9. Out of these four, Kent is the earliest variety of Arabica. It is named after the Englishman L.P. Kent who planted the coffee in Mysore. But S.795 is the most planted Arabica in India due to its balanced cup and subtle flavor notes of Mocca. Also, there are regional logos and brands like Anamalais, Biligiris, Brahmaputra, and Nilgiris. Together these brands constitute the coffee industry in India.

The Indian terrain and climatic conditions are also suitable for growing organic coffee grown without using synthetic agrochemicals used for plant protection. Also, the small holdings of coffee plants are considered favorable for producing organic coffee. But it is at a nascent stage in India.

Every year, coffee exporters send 70% of their produce to Germany, Russia, Spain, Belgium, Slovenia, the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, Greece, the Netherlands, and France. Italy alone accounts for 29% of the export. And most of the export goes through the Suez Canal. The demand for typical Indian brew is growing with each passing day and it is all due to the sincere efforts of coffee growers and the board set up for marketing and consumption of coffee.

Popularity

In 1940, the Coffee Board of India took a bold step towards popularizing the Indian brand of coffee in the domestic market by opening the India Coffee House chain. Opened at selected places, it worked well to further promote the interests of the coffee growers. But the British government decided to shut the chain in the mid-50s due to a policy change. The decision of shutting down the chain affected a large workforce but they all gathered under the leadership of A.K. Gopalan to form an Indian version of the coffee chain.

On 27 October 1957, the discharged workers launched the first Indian Coffee House in New Delhi and then went on to open branches in other prominent cities across the length and breadth of the country. Soon the country saw an emergence of coffee bars like Barista and Café Coffee Day that further boosted coffee production in India. In terms of consumption, South India consumes more coffee than elsewhere. Also, read about What is the Foreign Direct Investment Policy in India?

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