After its beans, coffee leaves from Araku draw global interest

Visakhapatnam: Coffee farmers in the state, especially in Alluri Sitarama Raju district, are likely to rake in more profits in the coming months not just from Araku coffee, which is made from coffee fruits, but from coffee leaf. Coffee farmers in the region, who normally remain busy during the selling of coffee fruits for three months, can now earn money round the year, as they will have the opportunity to sell coffee leaves almost six times in a year. The coffee leaf by-product will mostly cater to exports.A Hyderabad-based company is making efforts to sign an MoU with the Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA) to export Araku leaf black coffee, which attracted global attention when it was displayed at the Middle East Organic and Natural Products Expo in Dubai five months ago. At the time, the company was involved in marketing of coffee leaf tea, as it did not had the shelf-life certificate of black coffee. Representatives of Greenayush Pvt Ltd, led by the company's CEO P Rajesh, recently met ASR district collector Dinesh Kumar and informed him that the company does not expect or seek land allocations, grants, or subsidies, but only govt support in facilitating a district-level procurement awareness MoU to strengthen the organised purchase system of coffee leaves from tribal farmers. Rajesh said they tested coffee leaves from Karnataka, Wayanad in Kerala, and Tamil Nadu for mineral values, and found that the coffee leaves from Araku region contained more mineral values due to its rich and fertile soil. After procurement of coffee leaves, the process would involve washing the leaves, followed by oxidation and whitening (grinding the leaves), before undergoing dehydration process to remove moisture. The process is the same for coffee leaf tea too. "There will not be any preservatives or synthetic usage. Plant-based ingredients will be used to retain the flavour. Black berries or other fruits, flowers, or both would be used for flavour-based formulation," he added. Rajesh said they plan to procure 30 to 40 tonnes of leaves per month initially, and may go for more based on international demand. "After 5 years of intensive research on coffee leaves, formulation development, and adoption of advanced processing technologies, the product now meets international export standards. Patenting process for this product is currently underway. Partners from 27 countries expressed interest for the product during the Dubai expo," he said.District collector Dinesh Kumar said if there is good export potential for the product, the govt will help the company connect with tribal farmers. "We are going for a pilot project and allot one or two mandals to monitor the progress for the benefit of farmers. We will discuss and chalk out future plans later," he said.