India is witnessing a steady rise in coffee export. A jump of 12x in quantity of coffee export has been recorded from 1960-61 to 2020-21, according to a PIB release.
In terms of value, Indian coffee exports saw over 760x rise from 1960-61 to 2020-21. The PIB release mentioned that coffee exports have crossed $1 billion for the first time in the year 2021-22. The World Economic Forum (WEF) in its report stated that India was the seventh largest coffee producer in the world in 2020.
In April, Piyush Goyal, minister of commerce, said that coffee growers and exporters have enabled record exports of coffee, amounting to over a billion dollars. On Koo, Goyal wrote, "World is waking up with Indian coffee. 42 per cent rise in exports in 2021-22 over the previous year. Our coffee growers and exporters have enabled record exports of coffee, amounting to over a billion dollars." This development came after Indian coffee export declined at an annual rate of 3 per cent from 2011-12 till 2020-21.
IBEF or Indian Brand Equity Foundation in its data mentioned that coffee exports stood at $719.96 million in FY22. India is among the top 10 coffee-producing countries, with about 3 per cent of the global output in 2020.
Indian coffee is regarded one of the best coffees in the world because of its high quality. It gets a high premium in the global markets too. India produces two types of coffee -- Arabica and Robusta. Arabica has high market value than Robusta coffee due to its mild aromatic flavour. Robusta coffee is mainly used in making various blends due to its strong flavour. Robusta is the majorly manufactured coffee with a share of 72 per cent of the total production.
IBEF said the industry provides direct employment to more than 20 lakh people in India. Since coffee is mainly an export commodity for India, domestic demand and consumption do not drastically impact the prices of coffee.
Coffee is largely produced in the southern India. Karnataka is the largest producer accounting for about 70 per cent of the total coffee production in India. Kerala is the second-largest producer of coffee but lags far behind, accounting only for about 23 per cent of the total production. Tamil Nadu is the third-largest producer, where India’s 6 per cent of the coffee is produced. Nearly half of Tamil Nadu’s coffee is made in the Nilgiri district, a major Arabica growing region. Orissa and the northeastern areas have a smaller proportion of production.
According to IBEF data, India exports coffee to more than 50 countries around the world. Italy, Germany, Belgium, and Russian are the largest importers of coffee from India, with an average total share of about 45 per cent. The other coffee importing countries are Libya, Poland, Jordan, Malaysia, the US, Slovenia, and Australia.