though the platform currently does
not have an in-app payment option, it
is likely to be integrated shortly.
Manav Garg, CEO and Founder of
Eka Software, says the building appli-
cations on blockchain have been sim-
plified: one can define the fields where
data has to be captured, and set rules
regarding who can create a record and
who can modify. “You can deploy the
contract quickly. The whole infrastruc-
ture is fairly distributed and there are
miners who check them to verify legiti-
macy,” says Garg. Agility also comes
from the fact that multiple versions
of the contract can be deployed and
changed to stay in step with evolving
contract regulations. “For example the
current coffee marketplace has gone
through several modifications since
the work began. When we started
discussions, the model envisaged was
a bid-ask system like in any stock ex-74 IBUSINESS TODAYIAugust 11 I 2019COMMODITY>COFFEEfee is for domestic consumption or
for export. A blockchain marketplace
could disrupt this.
On the Same Platform
The Coffee Board asked Bengaluru-
based Eka Software, which offers
commodity software, to develop a
blockchain software. This is being
tested as an app. The pilot, as of now,
has 22 participants, which includes
buyers, coffee roasters and growers.
The stakeholders in the coffee eco-
system – which includes coffee farm-
ers, traders, coffee curers, exporters,
roasters, importers and retailers –
have to register. Growers can offer
any quantity and quality at their ex-
pected price for sale. The buyers can
either agree to buy at the said price
or make alternative offers. Once both
parties agree on a price, the transac-
tion is completed.
Blockchain provides a real-time
secure framework for sharing ledgers
and transactions, a digital ID that
follows a physical product, smart con-
tracts, and also the source of record
accessible to all parties, making the
platform transparent.
Nishan R. Gurjer, a sixth genera-
tion coffee grower and exporter who
opted to be a part of the experiment,
says the entire coffee industry is see-
ing a shift. “The coffee world is mov-
ing away from the traditional middle-
men. Right from the origin to the
attributes of coffee beans, from taste
profile to carbon footprint, block-
chain provides key information that
consumers are seeking,” he adds. The
grower provides this information and
it is certified by the Coffee Board.
More importantly, growers have a
bigger say in the price they get. “With
the grower getting less than 10 per
cent of the value, blockchain address-
es the issue of transparency and gives
better bargaining power for good cof-
fee,” adds Gurjer. Though the block-
chain platform is at a nascent stage,
Gurjer says he is seeing more enqui-
ries than before, and the democratic
pricing gives him more comfort.
Second, the technology also pro-
vides agility and scalability. Even
change. Later, we became grower cen-
tric so that buyers don’t bring down the
price. Later, buyers also wanted bet-
ter control, so the model was tweaked
to enable them to start contracts. On
blockchain, it was fairly easy for us to
modify and migrate through these
multiple models,” Garg adds.
For growers, the platform pro-
vides democratic pricing. He can
quote a price and negotiate discreetly
with the buyer, with other growers not
knowing the final price of the coffee,
hence offering a better chance of high-
er price realisation for specialty coffee.Premium Efforts
The government, too, is taking some
steps to support the coffee market. In
a bid to increase value and traceabil-
ity, the Department for Promotion of
Industry and Internal Trade recently
awarded five new geographical in-
dication (GI) tags – Coorg Arabica,
Chikmaglur Arabica and Bababudan-
giris Arabica from Karnataka, Way-
anad Robusta from Kerala and Araku
Valley Arabica from Andhra Pradesh.
The franchise of the Coffee Board’s
quick service restaurant India Coffee
House has been given to two private
players – Cafe Coffee Day and Afoozo
group – for a facelift. India will also
host the prestigious World Coffee
Conference, the first ever in Asia, in
September 2020.
International coffee prices have
declined since 2017, mostly due to
over-supply, says the International
Coffee Organisation. There is a sur-
plus of 4.16 million bags from 2017.
It expects production at 168.05 mil-
lion bags for 2018/19 compared to
165.54 million bags in 2017/18, and
consumption at around 164.99 mil-
lion bags. So, a surplus of 3.06 million
bags is expected, making it a straight
second year of surplus.
With low prices for coffee expect-
ed to continue, Indian coffee grow-
ers now stand at the cusp of technol-
ogy adoption and creation of a brand
identity as India readies to serve a
fresh brew to the world.@rukminirao3 .1 9
LAKH
METRIC TONNES
Coffee production in
India in 2018/1980 %
Share of Indian coffee
crop exported4 .5
LAKH HECTARES
Area under coffee
cultivation3 - 6
Levels of middlemen
in the current coffee
ecosystem