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With about 0.3 million tonnes of annual output, India is the fifth-largest coffee producer in the world, accounting for 4.5 per cent of total production.
Over 75 per cent of the produced output is exported, of which more than half is exported to four areas "" Russia, Italy, the former Yugoslavia and Japan.
India has lost nearly two-thirds of the Russian coffee market to Vietnam in the past few years as Vietnamese coffee is 50 per cent cheaper than Indian coffee.
In India, Karnataka is the largest coffee-producing state, accounting for about 70 per cent of production. Fifty-four per cent of this is Arabica and 46 per cent is Robusta.
Robusta is dominant in Kerala, which accounts for 95 per cent of planted area. Arabica is dominant in Tamil Nadu, accounting for 82 per cent of planted area.
Organic coffee consumption is picking up in many countries. This is an opportunity India should explore.
In the past five years, coffee consumption in India has shot up from 60,000 tonnes to 80,000 tonnes.
Coffee is the third most popular hot beverage in the country after tea and milk. |
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