Press Information Bureau

Government of India

Ministry of Commerce & Industry

18-January-2012 20:39 IST

Anand Sharma Flags off IICF 2012 400 Delegates from 16 Countries Converge at the Event to Promote Coffee

The India International Coffee Festival (IICF) 2012, organized by the India Coffee Trust, an industry body in collaboration with the Coffee Board of India to promote coffee consumption in India, was inaugurated by Mr. Anand Sharma, Minister of Commerce, Industry & Textiles, with Mr. Roberio Oliveira Silva, Executive Director of International Coffee Organization (ICO) as the Guest of Honour, here today. The IICF has over 400 participants from the global coffee fraternity converging in Delhi for the prestigious event. Held for the first time in New Delhi, the three day coffee festival, has participation from India and across the world including Australia, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Italy, Germany, United States of America, Nigeria, Kenya, Norway, Sweden, Belgium and the USA to name a few.

Emphasizing that Coffee industry in India remains micro enterprise with an overwhelming majority of small growers, Shri Sharma recalled that keeping in mind that nearly 99% of the coffee growers have land holdings of less than 10 hectares who are vulnerable to the vagaries of price fluctuation and invariably are severely indebted, the Government of India announced a Comprehensive Debt Relief Package of Rs.435 crores covering 1.3 lakh small coffee growers in 2010. Apart from financial restructuring we have been providing technology support for coffee cultivation, development support for improving production and quality, capacity building, packaging and developing the marketing linkages. He stressed the need to increase the acreage of coffee cultivation in India and said that both Industry and the board should look for new areas for propagating coffee. Referring to growing popularity of coffee in India, the minister added “it is important to build on this domestic demand to insulate coffee prices from the global prices volatility. We also need to increase roasting capacity in the country and more and more global players should invest in this area which has tremendous scope.”

Speaking at the event, Shri Jawaid Akhtar, Chairman, Coffee Board of India pointed out that coffee is the second most valuable exported legal commodity on earth after oil. Over 90% of the coffee production takes place in the developing countries while consumption happens mainly in the industrialized economies. Worldwide 25 million small producers are dependent on coffee for their livelihood. Indian coffee farming also predominantly consists of small growers as out of 2.70 lakh growers, 2.67 lakh are small growers. Coffee farming provides livelihood to over 500,000 people and an equal number is employed in the downstream coffee industry. Attributed the rise in domestic coffee consumption in the country to the efforts of each member of the coffee fraternity in India who have worked in tandem to spread coffee drinking across the country, the Chairman said “over the past few years, coffee has transitioned from being a traditional beverage consumed mainly in South India, to a beverage with a national presence, consumed in several forms and retail formats. Between 2003 and 2008, coffee consumption has grown in the non-South regions at 42% annually while it has grown at 3.5% per annum in the Southern States. The Coffee Board is actively involved in the promotion of beverage in non-traditional markets and training to develop entrepreneurs supporting movement up the value chain in roasting, grinding and packaging segments by subsidy support to prospective entrepreneurs and Self Help Groups and collectives among others. The Coffee Board has been nurturing coffee industry for the past seven decades through its various activities like research, extension, export and domestic promotion and allied activities aimed at supporting coffee growers across the country,” he said.

Welcoming the guests at the Inaugural session, Mr Anil Bhandari, Chairman of the Coffee Trust, organizing the this prestigious event with the Coffee Board, recalled, “The Hon’ble Minister, Shri Anand Sharma’s previous support to the industry and hoped that with his help the Government to the industry’s and the India Coffee Trust’s current mission of spreading coffee consumption all over the country will be a signal success. He also thanked the Director ICO, Roberio Oliveira Silva for making it all the way to New Delhi for IICF 2012, thus exhibiting the ICO’s concern and regard for the Indian coffee industry.”

The IICF 2012 is a combination of a conference, exhibition and workshops which will include a session on “Cooking with Coffee,” conducted by noted Chef and Restauranteur, Mark Sayers from Australia. The workshops are aimed at providing its participants and prospective coffee professionals and entrepreneurs an enriching and interactive learning opportunity with a special focus on roasting & grinding, different techniques of brewing, cooking with coffee and has been conducted by specialized and experienced instructors. The Coffee exhibition will have something for everyone, be it a coffee expert, amateur or just a coffee lover.

Mark Sayers, has demonstrated his signature recipes at IICF 2012, expressed happiness over the efforts of the India Coffee Trust to promote Coffee. “India, with its diverse culture, is a place where people are willing to experiment with their food menus. Coffee, as a sipping drink, is also being welcomed as a food ingredient world over and I hope India too welcomes it whole-heartedly.”

Roberio Oliveira Silva, the Executive Director of ICO said, “with growing demand for coffee in emerging markets like India, the ICO is enabling countries to increase production by assisting in deploying better reproduction technologies, market diversification, linkages/integration through partnerships and investments in Research and Development”.

The IICF 2012 Coffee Awards on January 19 will have professionals from the Coffee industry awarded for their excellence by Shri Jyotiraditya Scindia, Honourable Minister of State Commerce & Industry, Government of India. The awards which include the IICF Café awards, IICF Curer, Roaster, Latte Art Championship and the India Barista Championship will recognize the achievements and efforts made by various individuals and organizations in the Coffee sector.

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Comprehensive debt relief for small coffee growers strengthens government support to stabilise production and develop domestic coffee markets. The Government announced a Comprehensive Debt Relief Package for small coffee growers, coupled with financial restructuring, technology support for cultivation, development assistance to improve production and quality, capacity building, packaging and marketing linkage development, and encouragement of increased domestic roasting capacity and private investment to reduce exposure to global price volatility.