Govt to promote coffee consumption in North India

NEW DELHI: Alarmed at the continuing fall in coffee prices, government has initiated a programme to encourage better preparation practices and promote consumption of the commodity in North India.
The training programme "Kaapi Shastra" organised here aims at promotion of coffee brewing at a time when cafes are proliferating with the end-target being inculcating its drinking habit in the North, official sources told PTI.
The programme has even roped in personnel from five-star hotels, Rashtrapati Bhawan, Delhi Tourism department and exporters.
They said the idea is that better the quality of coffee produced, more are the chances of it being opted as the preferred drink by the masses.
The participants have been given the coffee classification, made to undertake physical observation and demonstrated the method of brewing good coffee.
"They have been taught how meticulously and objectively coffee can be roasted, powdered, brewed and packaged with each stage contributing to the end result," they said.
Reputation for serving good coffee can attract customers resulting in a successful enterprise while insipid or inconsistent coffee can turn away customers reducing the country''s coffee consumption further.
India''s coffee enterprise is mainly export-oriented and hardly 20 per cent of the produce is consumed within the country.
But with a global fall in prices, it is now being felt that the sector cannot rely on exports alone and domestic demand has to be accelerated.
The programme assumes significance as it comes at a time when the trend of coffee-shops is picking up in the country.
In recent years, the technology for coffee roasting and grinding has seen rapid advances in the developed countries, which has led to increased levels of its consumption and higher perceived value.
Greater awareness of such technology amongst domestic roasters is expected to lead to business expansion and an increase in domestic coffee consumption.
"There are rules for preparing good coffee, fortunately these can be mastered," they said adding however, coffee is a tricky product to handle, as an error at any stage can reduce or even spoil the quality of the end product.
Sources said there has been a major participation in the programme by the personnel of Delhi Tourism which runs a chain of coffee houses.
State-of-the-art coffee filters and roasters have been pressed into use for the purpose, combining theory with practicals so that participants get a hands-on induction into all aspects of coffee preparation.
The programme equips participants like hoteliers and cafes to satisfy the needs of consumers for good quality coffee powder for in-home consumption and for a variety of liquid coffee beverages served at food service hoteliers.
It includes blending of coffees, different blending methods, chicory and its use in coffee blends, espresso brewing and preparation of espressos.
Promoting domestic coffee consumption is critical as prices of robusta variety have fallen at auction level to Rs 26.3 a kg this year from Rs 59.64 in 1996 against current production cost of Rs 34 a kg.