COFFEE
• The coffee plant belongs to the Rubiaceae family, which has over 70 species
of coffee.
• But only seven of them have significant economic importance.
• The commercially cultivated species are arabica (Coffea arabica) and
robusta (Coffea canephora).
• Coffea liberica, another species, was devastated during the 1940s by an
epidemic of trachemycosis due to infection by Fusarium xylaroides, and the
commercial growth of this species has effectively ceased since then.
• Coffea robusta, which is noted for its resistance to disease, contains more
caffeine than C. arabica and is thus more economical in the manufacture of
instant coffee
2022/23 Coffee Overview
• World coffee production for 2022/23 is forecast to rebound 7.8
million bags from the previous year to 175.0 million due primarily to
Brazil’s Arabica crop entering the on-year of the biennial production
cycle. Global consumption is expected to rise 1.8 million bags to 167.0
million, with the largest gains in the European Union, the United
States, Japan, and Brazil. World exports are forecast modestly higher
on gains in Brazil and Indonesia. Ending stocks are expected 2.1
million bags higher to 34.7 million following last year’s sharp
drawdown
• India production is forecast to gain 200,000 bags to 5.7 million as
favorable weather during the flowering and fruit set period is
expected to improve Arabica and Robusta yields. Bean exports are
forecast up 100,000 bags to 3.9 million, while inventories remain
stable.
• Karnataka is one of the leading states in coffee production. The states contribute nearly about 71%
of total produce. As per the records, Karnataka had a total production of 2.33 lakh MT coffees.
• Kerala:
• Areas such as Malabar region in Kerala are highlight acclaimed for coffee production. The two major
types of coffee beans produced in this region are Arabica and Robusta. Kerala gives a contribution
of about 21% in India. Kerala’s total production is recorded of 67700 MT of coffee.
• 3. Tamil Nadu:
• Tamil Nadu is accounts for 5% of coffee bean production in India. The regions popular for the same
are; Nilgiris district, Kodaikanal, and Yercaud. We have 7 more to go to explain the top states in
India based on coffee production. The records have reported Tamil Nadu’s coffee production to be
17875 MT.
• 4. Andhra Pradesh:
• Major production of coffee beans happen in Andhra Pradesh state too. If you have ever been top
the Araku Valley Hill Station, you will get to smell the fresh aroma of coffee beans around as the
district is the ideal coffee plantation area in AP. Andhra Pradesh’s total coffee produced is 7425 MT.
• Approximately 60 percent of the world’s coffee production is arabica, while
the other 40 percent is robusta
• Over the past 50 years, both production and consumption of coffee have
risen considerably. Consumers have reaped some of the benefits through a
greater variety of coffee products, improved quality and lower real prices.
Now over 70 countries produce coffee, and over 50 percent comes from
just three countries. Some coffee producing countries have seen
considerable benefits through higher yields and growing volumes of sales.
But many, especially smallholders, who produce the majority of the world’s
coffee, are also facing growing challenges from climate change and more
difficult natural growing condition
History
• Coffee grown worldwide can trace its heritage back centuries to the ancient
coffee forests on the Ethiopian plateau. There, legend says the goat herder
Kaldi first discovered the potential of these beloved beans.
• The story goes that that Kaldi discovered coffee after he noticed that after
eating the berries from a certain tree, his goats became so energetic that
they did not want to sleep at night.
• Kaldi reported his findings to the abbot of the local monastery, who made a
drink with the berries and found that it kept him alert through the long
hours of evening prayer. The abbot shared his discovery with the other
monks at the monastery, and knowledge of the energizing berries began to
spread.
• As word moved east and coffee reached the Arabian peninsula, it began a
journey which would bring these beans across the globe.
• Baba Budan, a 17th-century Sufi saint from India, went on a pilgrimage to
Mecca. On the way back to his homeland, he came across a dark sweet
liquid called Quahwa being served to other guests like him while in Mocha,
a port city of Yemen that overlooks the Red Sea. This is where he first tasted
coffee. He enjoyed the drink and thought of it as quite refreshing.
Besides being a trading hub for coffee, Mocha was also the source of the
popular Mocha coffee beans. The Arabs knew coffee was unique and was
extremely protective about their coffee industry. In those days, coffee was
exported to other parts of the world in the roasted or baked form so that no
one could grow their own. It was considered an illegal act to carry green
coffee seeds out of Arabia.
• But Baba Budan was so much in love with the drink that he wanted to
bring it back with him. Since he couldn’t carry it, he decided to
smuggle it instead. So he took just 7 green coffee seeds and hid them
in his beard to avoid having them confiscated on his way back.
• Since the number seven is sacrosanct in the Islamic religion, the
saint’s act of carrying seven coffee beans was considered a religious
act. And that’s how the first 7 seeds of coffee made their way to India
from Mocha to Mysore – in the beard of the courageous Sufi saint.
•
After returning from his pilgrimage, Baba Budan planted the Seven Seeds of
Coffee in the courtyard of his hermitage in Chikmagalur, Karnataka and that
became the birthplace and origin of coffee in India. The coffee plants gradually
spread as backyard plantings, and later on to the surrounding Chandangiri Hills.
• To thank the Sufi saint for his efforts, the kind people of Chikmagalur named this
entire mountain range as Baba Budan Giri (‘Giri’ meaning hill) in his honor.
• It includes the highest peaks of Karnataka. Filled with coffee plantations and
estates that seem to go on forever, today Chikmagalur is also known as the Coffee
Country. The 7 coffee beans planted by Baba Budan were of the Arabica coffee
variety, which is today the second most cultivated coffee bean in India after
Robusta, which is a modified, more climate sturdy variety of Arabica.
