“Back then, it seemed like betting on silver in a gold market,” says Mandanna, gesturing to the broad-leaved robusta bushes, famous for pest resistance. While it requires some irrigation, robusta is also far less labour-intensive than arabica. “None of us imagined that the gap in prices—robusta’s was once less than half that of arabica’s—would ever close,” he says. “However, in recent seasons, we have sold robusta parchment for Rs 23,000 for 50 kg and arabica for Rs 28,000. For a very brief period in October last year, prices of robusta even overtook arabica’s.” Washed coffee is called parchment, whereas unwashed, natural beans are referred to as cherry.
All this led to India experiencing a coffee high in FY2024-25. India’s coffee exports touched a record $1.2 billion—a 51% year-on-year surge— fuelled by the unquenchable thirst of caffeine-loving nations such as Italy, Germany and Belgium. The boom wasn’t dictated by quantity. India exported roughly 245 million kilograms of coffee during the year, which was a modest 2.1% rise over FY2023-24. The surge was price-driven, not volume-led.
KAAPI COUNTRY
At the heart of this upswing is Kodagu, the nation’s uncrowned coffee capital, which quietly transitioned from its prized arabica estates to the hardier and increasingly valuable robusta more than three decades ago. Today, Kodagu’s lush plantations stretch across the misty hills and valleys along the Kaveri river, producing 35-40% of India’s coffee and playing a stellar role in the recent export boom.
Beyond Kodagu, other key coffee-producing regions include Chikmagalur and Hassan—both in Karnataka— as well as parts of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, the Northeast and the arabicaexclusive Araku Valley in Andhra Pradesh.
As the demand for robusta surged globally in recent years — driven largely by instant coffee makers looking for higher caffeine content, and the amount of caffeine in robusta is almost double that of arabica—India was ready. Meanwhile, last year, coffee production in Brazil and Vietnam, which supply over 80% of the world’s coffee, suffered due to weather disruptions and other constraints. This caused global prices to spike. The moment proved opportune for India, a relatively small player, accounting for just 4% of global coffee exports.In FY25, Italy retained its position as India’s top coffee buyer, importing $306 million worth of beans, a 56% jump from a year ago. Germany, Belgium, Libya and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) were the other countries in the top five. The value of imports by Belgium and Libya more than doubled, while UAE’s grew by over 30%, according to Delhi-based trade think tank GTRI.
ROBUST(A) ECONOMY
“Not too long ago, 70% of India’s coffee was arabica and 30% robusta. Today, the numbers have flipped,” says MJ Dinesh, chairman of the Coffee Board of India and a seasoned planter from Chikmagalur. This hilly district, second only to Kodagu in output, still nurtures vast stretches of arabica, especially at higher altitudes. “The game of coffee is changing,” he adds. “India’s washed robusta is now seen as one of the finest in the global market. Across Europe, a new wave of consumers is developing a taste for robusta over arabica—and that shift is working in our favour.”
In Kodagu, most of the 44,000 coffee estates—many of which are small holdings under 25 acres—sell their produce to major multinational buyers such as Nestlé, Hindustan Unilever, Tata Coffee, Continental and Lavazza, among others. These companies operate coffee mills, or curing houses, in Kushalnagar, a low-lying area about 30 km east of the district headquarters, Madikeri. The mills are strategically located in Kushalnagar, which receives less rainfall than the surrounding highlands, making it ideal for processing.
Once the harvest is complete—typically, November to January for arabica, and December to February for robusta—and the coffee is processed, the export-ready beans are loaded into 20foot containers and transported by road to Mangaluru, about 170 km away. From there, feeder vessels carry them to larger ships docked at ports such as Kochi, Colombo, or even Mundra in Gujarat for their onward journey to Europe or the US.
“Kodagu’s transition from arabica to robusta happened faster than in places like Chikmagalur or Hassan, which is why we have benefited more from the unprecedented spike in robusta prices,” says Vishwanath KK, CEO of Kodagu-based Biota Coorg Farmer Producer Company. While the Palani Hills (Pulneys) and the Shevaroys region in Yercaud in Tamil Nadu continue to favour arabica, growers in Kerala’s Wayanad and further south have long embraced robusta.
THE RECENT DIP
However, Vishwanath says a recent slide in robusta prices is causing unease among local planters. Earlier this week, coffee prices plummeted, with arabica and robusta sinking to five-month and one-year low, respectively, mainly due to improved supply outlook. Currently, washed robusta is trading at Rs 18,300 for 50 kg, down from the high of Rs 24,500 for the 2024-25 crop. Arabica is now priced at Rs 25,500, down from Rs 29,500. Nanda Belliappa, estate owner and chairman of the Coorg Planters’ Association—a legacy body founded in 1879—says the growing trend of growers joining hands through farmer producer companies is changing the game for coffee exports. “Biota Coorg Farmer Producer Company, with 120 member-growers, connects directly with exporters. It has allowed us to ride the global robusta price wave, rather than sell our produce to multinational curing houses,” he says.
Belliappa isn’t overly concerned about the recent dip in robusta prices. He believes erratic weather patterns will continue to constrain global coffee production. What worries him more is the persistent shortage of labour. “With so many government welfare schemes in place, many workers are unwilling to take up plantation jobs. Finding reliable labour is becoming increasingly difficult,” he says, adding that coffee plantations in Kodagu employ about 150,000 workers while the all-India figure is 500,000.
Most planters complain about high labour costs in India— accounting for around 60% of total production expenses, compared with just 25% in Brazil. In Vietnam, the costs are even lower, as much of the fieldwork is done by family members, they say.
Belliappa adds that beyond rising labour costs and shortage of workers, frequent man-elephant conflicts in the district have become a serious concern. In his office perched atop a hill in Madikeri, Deputy Conservator of Forests Abhishek V says coffee plantations in Kodagu often lie in elephant corridors and habitats, making human-elephant encounters almost inevitable. “Many estates use jackfruit trees for shade, and when the fruits ripen, they draw elephants in,” he says, acknowledging that such incursions —and attacks—have become a regular occurrence in the district. Karnataka, with an elephant population of 6,395 as per the 2023 census, has the highest number of wild elephants in India.
Indian coffee is largely grown under canopy cover, with shade trees, spices and horticultural crops interwoven into the landscape, creating an ecosystem so dense and natural that it lures wandering elephants.
EU & I?
India’s traditional coffee cultivation method could prove to be an advantage under the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), which comes into effect in December 2025. The regulation aims to keep products, which are linked to deforestation and forest degradation after December 31, 2020, out of EU markets.
“As far as EUDR is concerned, India is classified as a low-risk country,” says Vishwanath of Biota. “You won’t find a single instance where forest land has been cleared in recent years to make way for coffee cultivation.”
While sustainability and environmental responsibility have become key talking points among Western coffee consumers, a group of entrepreneurs from Kerala is taking it a step further— marketing their coffee not just for quality, but as a tool to combat climate change through ethical farming. The company says it follows organic farming and uses minimum water for irrigation and processing.
“We position ourselves as a climate-cooling coffee company,” says Shameel CP, cofounder of Ekata Inc, a brand founded in 2016. He believes Europe’s deforestation regulation will work in favour of Indian exporters. “India was once seen as a source of conventional, low-quality coffee. That perception has changed. We have become highly skilled in coffee processing,” he adds.
Though Ekata owns just one estate in Chikmagalur, it has built partnerships with growers across India and beyond—including Peru, Kenya and Ethiopia—guiding them in cultivating climate-friendly coffee. Cofounder Vijith, a former banker, says Ekata exports directly to end consumers in Europe and other regions, eliminating middlemen and retaining greater value at source.
While prices will continue to ebb and flow at global trading terminals, causing ripples in the misty hills of Kodagu and the sprawling valleys of São Paulo, Indian coffee could hold its ground for reasons that go beyond the market.
“Indian coffee is shade-grown, hand-picked and sun-dried— that’s our unique signature,” says Mandanna. “In contrast, Brazil relies on machines for harvesting and artificial dryers for processing.”
He also points to an emerging trend in Vietnam, the world’s second largest coffee producer, where some traditional coffeegrowing land is being repurposed to cultivate the more profitable durian crop, largely exported to China.
In a rapidly shifting global coffee landscape, India may well stand apart. At a time when mechanisation is brewing across the world, India’s hand-picked and sun-dried beans carry a flavour that machines can’t replicate. But the question is: if shortage of labour persists, will there be enough hands to pick them?
