Expo gives new insights into world of coffee

Sumit Bhattacharya | NT

Bengaluru: The fifth world coffee conference (WCC) & expo which is currently being held in the city, has provided the much-needed opportunities to entrepreneurs, retailers, gafe-business owners in terms of sourcing highquality coffee beans, and business leaders looking for investment opportunities in the sector.

News Trail spoke to several exhibitors and businessmen who have displayed their inventories at the expo.

Sharing his view on drip irrigation, senior Vice President of Jain Irrigation System Limited, KB Patil said that a good quality coffee plantation requires proper air-water balance within the root zone.

"Drip irrigation takes care of all these and provides the favourable conditions to the plant. Multiple factors work to make a coffee plant grow. Most of the procedures depend on how better the dripping process is done," he added. Patil also explained how water conservation has a pivotal role in coffee making.

"Traditional coffee plantations are mostly located in the high rainfall zones. With drip irrigation, water can be provided at frequent intervals which would help to sustain the soil and moisturise it. Our irrigation system works to enrich the procurement of coffee beans without hampering nature," Patil added.

Another exhibiting brand was 'Three One', which deals with coffee engineering, and was established back in 2019. Unfortunately, a year after the establishment,a pandemic hit the industry.

Velaji Bhamble, Service Manager of the firm said that they understood that coffee is a behavioral-oriented product and brought in machine mechanisms such as GS3, Linea Classics, GB5 S/X, Linea PB/PBX technologies, through which they are currently processing the coffee which is further supplied to the markets across the country.

One of the industry giants , TATA Coffee Limited was present at the expo. Kalva Devender Reddy, the Executive Vice President (Operation) said to News Trail that the consumer behavior has changed to health-oriented from behaviour-oriented, post pandemic.

"For coffee lovers it was a good transition as the coffee industry has got a boost with an increase in cafeterias across the country," he added. Ten to fifteen years down the line, TATA Coffee Ltd plans to reach a global market leader position.

"TATA Coffee is more focused on its research and development, besides, the brand has some upcoming projects. Once they get finalized, the brand will share the projects with the media," Reddy informed.

The Coffee expo is an array of participants and exhibitors showcasing their coffee-related products and services and its production technology and processes.