Tata Coffee eyes markets in Australia, Europe

Tata Coffee is the second largest exporter of instant coffee from India after Nestle. Instant coffee is mainly consumed in Russia, the CIS countries, the UK and Australia.

The company's instant coffee division is a 100 per cent export oriented unit with a manufacturing facility near Hyderabad. Tata Coffee has a presence in the spray-dried, aroma-enriched and granulated segments and is yet to enter the freeze-dried coffee segment.

Tata Coffee is also planning to launch more brands. The company has two brands of its own but is heavily dependent on customers' brands, which account for 80 per cent of its total sales.

In order to reduce dependence on the customers' brands, plans are on to introduce more brands and strengthen the existing brands.

The company has recently embarked on an ambitious programme to market its products, in addition to value added areas like vending and coffee bars.

However, the instant coffee industry was largely dependent on the volatility in international coffee bean prices. Tata Coffee has decided to counter the threat on margins by pushing up its volumes by broadbasing its customer portfolio and going in for a severe reduction in production costs.

Tata Coffee produces 10,000 tonne of naturally shade grown Arabica and Robusta coffees, in both washed and unwashed forms.