India’s Coffee Board has a roasting and grinding facility at its headquarters in Bengaluru and is committed to promoting pure coffee from India. The Board will deliver orders on the basis of orders received with a minimum margin.
Although India is a large country with a huge population and excellent conditions for growing coffee, it is not one of the top ten coffee producers. Historically, this could be due to the popularity of tea in the country, although coffee is becoming more popular as many global coffee chains are opening their franchises in this big market.
The state-run Coffee Board has made it its mission to promote pure coffee from India, which it plans to do through e-commerce. The Coffee Board has already started promoting six types of coffee under the India Coffee and Coffees of India brands on Amazon. It also plans to promote its products on other platforms like Flipkart and Meesho.
With this move, the Coffee Board aims to promote pure Indian coffees across the country and also increase the visibility of local farmers, which is expected to boost consumer spending. NN Narendra, finance director of the Coffee Board, said the aim is to promote coffee from India and not to make a profit. Therefore, he said, margins will be kept as low as possible to cover operating costs.
We want to carve out a niche for pure coffees, which is why we’ve gotten into processing and packing and have placed these products on Amazon while discussions with Flipkart and other platforms are ongoing.
NN Narendra, Finance Director, Coffee Board
The board has 33 members, including the chairman, and focuses mainly on its research, extension, development, market monitoring, external and internal promotion and social action activities. It has several research institutes with regional research stations across India.
The main facility for the promotion of Indian coffees is in Bengaluru, where the agency roasts and ships pure coffees based on orders received. The coffees shipped are tested for quality and many also carry the Food Standards and Safety Authority of India (FSSAI) certification.
The board aims to promote coffee from different regions while ensuring quality. The coffees currently registered on GI are the Arabica coffees Coorg and Chikkamagaluru, but the board expects more coffees to be available through e-commerce in the near future.
