“The board is working on a three-point strategy of premiumisation, entrepreneurship and productivity, under which it is setting up the first National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories- (NABL) certified coffee lab in the country and issuing 10,000 soil health cards to the farmers,”he added.
Further, the coffee board has tied up with such brands as Starbucks and Tata to buy and sell Indian coffee in their outlets. “The board has also initiated talks with e-commerce platforms like Flipkart, Amazon and Snapdeal to sell Indian coffee under the name Coffee Bazaar,” Krishna said.
“Through Coffee Bazaar, which is coming soon, coffee growers will be able to sell directly to customers through platforms like Snapdeal, Flipkart, Walmart, etc.,” he added.
India coffee production stands at 3.5 million tonne. Its export value this year is about $1 billion, and its share in the world market is 5.56 per cent.
He added that globally, coffee is a commodity worth $30 billion, and India’s share in it is approximately four to five per cent. Using technology, the country's coffee growers will become far more productive and prosperous.
Moreover, the board is also looking to obtain the Geographical Indication (GI) tag for five places in India, viz Araku Valley in Andhra Pradesh; Coorg, Chikmagalur and Baba Budangiri in Karnataka, and Wayanad in Kerala.
On this occasion, two services were launched. One was Coffee Connect and the other was Coffee Krishi Tharanga.
The former is a mobile application aimed at connecting the extension staff of the coffee board who will disburse all the information related to coffee from sowing to harvesting.
The latter is an IVR-based digital mobile extension service, jointly developed by Coffee Board and PADIF.
It is aimed at maximising the reach of the Board’s services to increase productivity and environmental sustainability.
