The International Coffee Festival brings growers, sellers, and lovers together in the same mug
Coffee love is serious love, and Bengaluru knows how to keep up with it. Just last month, Coffee Santhe celebrated your favourite brew with a three-day carnival. It had the best estates in India showcasing their blends and coffee-related demonstrations to coffee-related food and art.
Cut to the present. Coffee love is hogging the limelight yet again, thanks to the ongoing India International Coffee Festival (IICF) 2018. The expo, which is in its seventh edition, organised by India Coffee Trust – an NGO formed by various stakeholders of the Indian coffee fraternity, is on till Friday. And the event is dotted with different kinds of activities – from panel discussions to exhibitions by various growers.
Today, for instance, you can flaunt your knowledge of coffee at a quiz. Or, sit down for a workshop about the ‘Role of Sustainability in Post-Harvest Processing with the Right Processing Equipment to Secure the Right Quality, Type and Quantity of Coffee’ by Carlos Brando of Pea Marketing.
Over two days, you can listen to coffee experts and policy-makers talk about the trends in the coffee market, innovation in the production and packaging segment, startups making coffee ‘cooler’, alternate brewing techniques, and how to turn India into a ‘Coffee Nation’.
Jose Sette, executive director of International Coffee Organization, will speak about ‘Global Coffee Outlook – addressing challenges to meet future demand’; Dr Joseph K Kimemia, chairman of African Fine Coffee Association, will talk about ‘Initiatives on Promotion of African Coffee’; Dr Peter Baker, director of Climate Edge UK, will share his thoughts about ‘The Changing Climate for Coffee – farming in a time of extremes’; Sanjay Khajuria, senior VP (Corporate Affairs), Nestle India, will discuss the topic ‘Creating Shared Value –
How responsible business and communities work together’. The fest will also felicitate the best in the business.
Anil Kumar Bhandari, president of the India Coffee Trust, says that the coffee industry owes a lot to the country’s café culture that has grown rapidly in the past decade or so. “I need to give a little background into this festival. We started this expo in 2002, which begun in tacit with the Coffee Board, commerce industry, and ICT. However, we never asked for funds from the government because we didn’t want the show to come with strings attached.
There are only 4-5 large corporate houses that are part of this trust. Initially, it was started by a bunch of coffee growers like me, and the idea was to generate domestic consumption of coffee, and to help the growers market their coffee better. In India, 98 per cent of coffee growers are small, which means they farm on less than 10 acres. Now in 2002, the industry across the world suffered a massive slump because the global market was saturated. There was no strength in the industry to combat this deep depression. It is at that time that we considered generating a new idea – something that will increase domestic consumption – instead of the going to the government to ask for waivers and subsidies.” And this where cafes have come into play.
However Bhandari also adds that the coffee drinking habit remains mostly out of home, but “yes, it created a whole new lifestyle. Before the modern version of cafes, the smaller places had no focus, no identity, barring a few landmark places.”
Yes, the expo is quite industry-oriented. It is an ideal networking ground for people engaged in the growth, production, packaging, and promotion of coffee, or are planning to make a career switch in the direction. Nonetheless, platforms such as these provide common man a chance to learn what goes into bringing their latte, espresso, cappuccino, or the humble filter coffee to their tables.
Besides these talks and coffee quiz, an exhibition is being held across two halls – Kalinga 1 and Siddhartha. On showcase are a range of coffee beans and blends, with Coffee Board of India itself displaying and selling 15 varieties (light, medium, and dark) hailing from Coorg to Chikmagalur, Araku Valley, Nilgiris and Wayanad. Plus, you can sift through coffee filters, including a cute, ceramic one. Needless to say, there’s a lot of coffee for you to sip on, from the regular instant brews to the speciality. Moreover, a few vendors will also teach you the method to making a cuppa of your choice.
Two stalls are interesting. One is selling coffee paintings – painting with coffee powder (see pic on left). It is the handiwork of Himabindu, an IT professional who’s currently on sabbatical. She has put up 30 paintings, and had managed to sell quite a few by Wednesday afternoon. The second one will have you scratch your head as it promises to print your selfie on coffee broth. The set-up will be fully operational today.
If you want to take your coffee expertise a notch up, you can enquire about the ‘Q Grader Arabica Training & Certification’ programme, which will take off towards the end of February. Or drive down to coffee estates in the state and learn about the bean-to-cup process there. You can get information at the tourism stalls.
Catch IICF 2018, January 18-19, at The Lalit Ashok, Kumara Krupa High Grounds Details: iicf.in
source: http://www.bangaloremirror.indiatimes.com / Bangalore Mirror / Home> Entertainment> Lounge / Bangalore Mirror Bureau / January 18th, 2018
