Taking coffee to the masses

At a discussion session on gastroenterologist Dr Shiv Kumar Sarin’s book, Own Your Body: A Doctor’s Life-saving Tips, most experts felt that coffee — two cups — was actually not bad for health.

If coffee is good for health, why is it still not the favoured drink of Indian households? It is still not a popular drink for most Indians despite two of the prominent beans, Arabica and Robusta, being grown here.

Arabica has a sweeter, smoother taste to it, while Robusta is generally more bitter and harsher on the taste buds. Is coffee’s lack of mass appeal due to it not being promoted sufficiently or is it because it is still seen as a premium drink?

Yes, the cafe culture has brought in a shift, but still coffee has not become a popular household drink. There are two reasons for this, according to those who are into coffee plantation business.

One, India has always been a tea consuming country and it is difficult for any other beverage to make a mark. And, two, coffee is produced only in the South. In fact, the three southern States — Tamil Naidu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh — account for most of the coffee drinkers.

Staple beverages

According to Harish Bijoor of Harish Bijoor Consults Inc., “Coffee and tea are both staple beverages and both are plant outputs. Coffee has lagged because it is seen for a niche audience and is dominant essentially in South India. Tea, on the other hand, has always been promoted across the country and is omnipresent across areas. Besides, it is easy to prepare, while coffee is that much more complicated in its preparation mechanism.”

“Today as we speak coffee has gone far beyond the pathetic consumption levels 30 years ago when I was in the sector. Coffee needs to be promoted much more vigorously,” he said, adding that “the liquid coffee movement which was promoted essentially during the cafe revolution that hit India has really done wonders to its consumption. People drink a great cup of coffee in a Starbucks or Cafe Coffee Day and get back home and want to make something similar. If they cannot make something similar, they at least try to pick up an instant coffee packet that is as close as possible to the one they had.”

But coffee remains the drink of South India and for the rest of the Indian market it is a drink to be had in a cafe where it is made best, says Bijoor, adding that “when it comes to home consumption, everyday consumption or multiple cups of consumption it remains to be cups of tea. Coffee is served for special occasions.”

According to Coffee Board Secretary, KG Jagadeesha, “Coffee Board takes up lots of generic promotions at its end. In fact, on the policy front, in our proposal for the new Coffee (Promotion and Development) Bill, which will replace the over 80-year-old existing Act, we have proposed that the role of the Coffee Board should be that of a facilitator and not a regulator.”

The push to coffee is pretty evident in terms of number of campaigns that have been coming up.

Says R Sanjith Secretary-General, UPASI (United Planters’ Association of Southern India), “As per a recent study on coffee consumption, the per capita consumption declined marginally during the last decade, while there was a small increase in the absolute coffee consumption figures. The reason for this static growth in coffee consumption could be due to blending of chicory with coffee at a maximum of 49 per cent. This could potentially mask not only the taste and flavour of coffee but also dilute the stimulating effects of coffee. Globally, mixing of chicory with coffee is confined to a couple of regions/countries and as per ICO (International Coffee Organization), the member countries should promote coffee that contains at least 95 per cent green coffee as the basic raw material.”

Packaging matters

“The ideal case scenario for growth in coffee consumption is reduction of chicory content in coffee to a minimum. That being the case, UPASI supports the Coffee Board’s initiative to amend the labelling norms to indicate the coffee and its content on the front cover of package, as it will enable the consumers to make an informed choice for purchase of coffee,” Sanjith adds.

Clearly, if consumption of coffee has to be increased, the consumer should be made aware of how pure the coffee is. Apart from awareness, price is an important aspect. Coffee is expensive, largely because the entire production process is cumbersome. According to Nadikerianda Bose Mandanna, former Vice-Chairman Coffee Board, “Preparation of filter coffee is a laborious process in India — beans have to be roasted, ground and decoction made, whereas in the West machines are used more frequently. Indians still prefers the South Indian filter coffee.”

Mixing of chicory prevents the consumer from tasting real coffee, he said. There is a demand to reduce the percentage of chicory in coffee.

“Coffee powder and coffee beans may be the cheapest in India. But the problem is in making. The process is cumbersome that it becomes difficult for the families to make it their home product.” This leads to the next question: what could be the role of government in all this?

A set of rules have to be in place which would ensure that the percentage of chicory mixed in coffee is much lower and the labelling must depict the same. To make coffee popular, all stakeholders need to work together to ensure the demand grows.