India eyeing Japan, South Korea for coffee exports

New Delhi, Dec 9 (PTI) India is looking at Japan and South Korea as future destinations for its coffee exports, a top official of the country's state-run Coffee Board said. "We are now concentrating on popularising Indian coffee in Asia, especially Japan and South Korea," Coffee Board Chairman Javed Akhtar told reporters at a curtain-raiser event for the India International Coffee Festival, 2012. Presently, the country does not export much coffee to Japan and South Korea, but there is tremendous potential for exports to these countries, he said. The idea behind organising the international coffee festival was to make the world aware of Indian coffee as well as introduce global players to the opportunities available here, he said. Akhtar said with exports to European destinations on the wane due to the debt crisis in the region, India needs to scout for new export destinations to make up for the reduction in shipments. "We expect our exports in the current fiscal to drop by 14 per cent to 240,000 to 250,000 tonnes from 294,000 tonnes in the 2010-11 fiscal," he said. However, the board expects coffee output in the country to increase in the 2011-12 crop year (October-September) in comparison to the previous season. "The board has estimated the 2011-12 crop size at 321,000 tonnes, as against 301,000 tonnes in the previous year, on the back of an increase in the Arabica variety," he said. Arabica production is expected to amount to 104,000 tonnes in 2011-12, as against 94,000 tonnes in the previous year, while Robusta output is projected to rise to 217,000 tonnes from 207,000 tonnes in the same period a year ago, he added. Akhtar said India needs to increase its production to cater to growing domestic consumption as well as keep up the pace of exports. "While domestic consumption was a mere 2 per cent between 1951 to 2000, since 2003, consumption has grown at a rate of 6 per cent per annum. India consumed 108,000 tonnes of coffee in 2010," he said. In order to increase output, the Coffee Board has identified 22,000-23,000 hectares of land in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh and 20,000 hectares in the eastern state of Orissa for cultivation of coffee beans, he added. Presently, coffee is grown in 388,000 hectares across the country, with the southern states of Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu considered traditional cultivation areas, while Andhra Pradesh and Orissa are non-traditional areas, Akhtar said. The India International Coffee Festival, 2012, will be held in Delhi from January 18 to 20 and will see the participation of over 500 delegates from 16 countries. PTI