Food & Wine Nepal – July 2019

(20) Hospitality, Food & Wine, Monthly

Coverage

have invested their resources here as

well. Illy & Lavazza, globally renown

Italian coffee brands has been selling

in various outlets, while the Indian

coffee chain, Café Coffee Day has

also launched opening outlets in Nepal

expanding their reach.

While scanning the statistics

maintained by National Tea and Coffee

Development Board, the country

earned Rs 93.72 million by exporting

84 tons of roasted coffee beans

while it spent Rs 65.89 million on

importing 163 tons of coffee specially

decaffeinated and instant coffee. There

is huge potential of processing coffee

beans to create variety of processed

products for internal consumption

as well as export at high value.

The Craze

We connected with various random

people at coffee shops around the

capital but the responses we received

weren’t definitive. Many suggested they

like coffee simply as a beverage, while

others suggested that they like to drink

coffee because they can hang out with

their friends in coffee shops. However,

a common answer among most seem

to be that many drink coffee not for the

benefits it provides.

“For me a coffee shop represents more

than just coffee. Coffee shops are a

place where people go to hang out with

their friends and spend time after work

to unwind from a hard long day. I visit

coffee shops very often with my friends

who like to hang out there just as much.

The coffee is great but coffee and coffee

shops are much more than just a cup of

coffee for people like me”, says Vivek

Tuladhar, a resident from Baluwatar.

“Coffee shops very trendy these days.

Posting social media, the ambience

is a very nice setting for my feed too.

Besides, coffee is a very nice beverage

too”, says Manisha Chettri, on being

asked why she likes to go to coffee

shops.’

Social media influence cannot be

understated here. Since the age group

among those flocking to coffee shops

range from anywhere in-between 18-27,

we can picture as to why social media

has influenced the growth of coffee in

the country.

The Challenges

The coffee shops in the country face

one task that has eluded them for some

time now. At the rate the coffee shops

are increasingly becoming popular and

new ones opening almost every day, the

lack of skilled labor has been a hurdle

difficult to move past.

But as Nepali people tend to find a

workaround for most problems, we

have found a fix for this problem as

well in the form of dedicated barista

institutions. Around the country these

institutions are popping up hoping

to produce fine baristas to meet the

demand for skilled labor. This is a part

of a solution but, even these institutions

have not been able to provide skilled

people fast enough.

If the coffee shops were to offer adequate

pay and various incentives, maybe more

people would be encouraged to take up

being a barista as a career.

What the Future Holds?

Since the country first started growing

coffee beans, times have changed

significantly. The country is now

growing Arabica beans of the highest

quality that are in high demand in

markets around the world.

As of now, Nepal is on track to

becoming a strong force in the global

coffee industry. Not just because we

are developing a taste for quality coffee

but also since the country has been

producing fine coffee beans for export

around the world. Our coffee beans

have been in high demand but we as a

country need to properly develop and