The processing of Araku Valley coffee will soon be done in Andhra Pradesh, and the Girijan Cooperative Corporation (GCC) can claim it to be a ‘Make in A.P.’ product once its plans materialise.
The GCC currently depends on an outsourcing agency in Bengaluru for processing the coffee.
The GCC has finalised to set up a Coffee Processing Unit (CPU) in an extent of 1.5 acres of land it owns at Dounuru village of Paderu mandal in Alluri Sitharama Raju (ASR) district at a cost of ₹5 crore.
The GCC proposes to commence construction of the CPU in the auspicious month of ‘Nija Shravanam’ (which begins on August 18 as per Telugu almanac), and complete the work in five to six months so as to begin the operations at the unit from the 2024-25 financial year.
“Coffee processing entails various costs — outsourcing, loading, unloading and transportation — due to the tie-up with the outsourcing agency. This year, the government has decided to process the coffee locally and sanctioned ₹5 crore to establish the CPU,” GCC Chairperson Shobha Swathi Rani told The Hindu.
“The decision will not only help save money but also help the tribal farmers in the form of enhanced procurement charges and other incentives,” she added.
“At present, the GCC is giving ₹285 per kg of coffee beans to the farmers. We have received the Organic Certification for the top-grade coffee being cultivated by 2,600 tribal farmers at 82 villages of Chintapalli and G.K. Veedhi mandals. We will export the coffee under the ‘GCC Araku Valley Coffee’ brand after the first product rolls out of the CPU before the general elections in 2024,” Ms. Swathi Rani said.
The Paderu Agency has coffee plantations in 11 mandals spread over an area of 2,27,021 acres. A total of 93,521 tribals are involved in the coffee cultivation, who include the 2,600 farmers cultivating the top-grade variety.
The GCC had started collecting coffee beans from the tribal farmers from 2015-16 by offering them competitive prices.
In 2022-23, the GCC had fixed the purchase price at ₹285 per kg for the Parchment coffee grade, ₹145 per kg for Cherry, and ₹60 per kg for the Robusta Cherry grade, she said, and added that the GCC collected 996.18 tonnes of seeds worth ₹20.07 crore during the year.
The beans collected were sent to Bengaluru for production of filter coffee and to Eluru for production of instant coffee powder and retail marketing.
“Once the CPU is set up, the entire process can be made locally,” Ms. Swathi Rani said.
