By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, September 16, 2019: Odisha government have successfully marketed Koraput Coffee – a unique blend, consisting of 100 percent Arabica coffee compared to the Robusta variety of the beverage which is acidic.

The state expects a turnover of Rs five crore in this fiscal from online sales of its recently launched Koraput Coffee. “The beverage is already quite popular, with stocks being replenished by the hour due to brisk sales at the state-owned offline retail store, Adisha”, an official from Tribal Development Cooperative Corporation of Odisha Ltd (TDCCOL) said.

Presently, the TDCCOL has 11 Adisha stores in Odisha. Very shortly, the TDCCOL will open outlets in Goa, Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam

In fact, ‘Arabica Coffee’, growing in the shade of trees, has a host of salutary benefits, inducing people to switch to the latter, experts said adding that the coffee raised in Koraput is also of export quality.

As E-commerce is a big market in the country, growing at 51 per cent year-on-year, the TDCCOL has already started selling Koraput Coffee online on Amazon.in and its own online platform Adisha.in.

TDCCOL has taken special care for packaging of the brand. The packaging material is procured from Gujarat and it consists of a valve which facilitates the buyers to check the aroma without tampering the seal.

The success of Koraput Coffee is prompting farmers from the state’s tribal regions to start coffee cultivation in a big way again. Previously, they were disillusioned with coffee plantations, being hamstrung by unremunerative prices and lack of market linkages for the commercial crop.

Koraput boasts of 3,000 hectares of area devoted to coffee crop, of which 1,900 hectares are managed by tribal farmers. TDCCOL plans to source the beans from 200 tribal farmers this year, and reach out to at least 1,000 next year. As many as 1,890 tribal farmers are engaged in coffee growing in Koraput district.

A processing unit has been installed at Sunabeda, also located in Koraput district and known for housing the facility of Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL). Green coffee beans procured from the growers are subject to curing and roasting at this unit before they hit the markets. Aided by branding efforts and the buyback arrangement with the farmers, Odisha is expected to contribute 500 tonnes in coffee output this year.