SMELL
THE
COFFEE
H
THE HUB COMMODITYCoffee Board has adopted
blockchain in an attempt to
provide an edge to growers
and coffee from India.ByRUKMINI RAO
Photograph byREUBEN SINGHpicked coffee and sun-dried beans,
which fall under the mild category.
India, which began commercial
coffee production in the 18th cen-
tury, has 3,50,000 farmers who grow
around 3,19,000 metric tonnes (in
2018/19) over 4,50,000 hectares. De-
spite it being among the top 10 cof-
fee growing countries – over 80 per
cent of the crop is exported – returns
to farmers are minuscule. Growers
have all along struggled to make extra
bucks out of the coffee value chain.ow much do coffee growers make
from a cup coffee that costs $4 on
streets of New York or London?” asks
Srivatsa Krishna, Chairman and
CEO, Coffee Board of India. Based
on street shopping experience, I say
50 cents. He asks me to take another
guess. Figuring that it could be lower,
I come up w ith 35 cents. Srivatsa says,
“All that they make is 4-5 cents on a
$4 cup of coffee.” That’s just 1 per cent
of the price charged in New York for
the world’s only shade-grown, hand-72 IBUSINESS TODAYIAugust 11 I 2019