Hyderabad: The Coffee Board of India is looking to replicate the poultry industry’s National Egg Coordination Committee model to boost domestic coffee consumption, even as it is working on pushing Indian coffee globally and expanding production and exports.Senior Coffee Board officials recently visited the NECC office in Hyderabad to study how the poultry industry created a nationwide mechanism for egg price discovery, farmer communication and demand promotion.Coffee Board chairman M J Dinesh said the proposed coffee platform is at an early stage and will be firmed up after consultations with growers, roasters, exporters and other stakeholders.“We also want to set up a corpus,” Dinesh said, adding that the body is likely to be driven largely by industry participants, with the Coffee Board playing an advisory or institutional role. The board is examining models such as NECC and other producer-led institutions before finalising a governance and funding structure.NECC officials said they briefed the Coffee Board team on their 28-zone structure, which helps poultry farmers track market conditions. Under the model, zonal chairmen suggest prices based on supply, demand and farmer feedback.Set up in 1982 to support poultry farmers, NECC has also used high-decibel advertising campaigns featuring sportspersons and actors to promote egg consumption during weak demand periods, besides creating subsidised cold storage facilities.Pointing out that India’s annual per capita coffee consumption is about 70 grams, far below the global average of around 350 grams, Dinesh said the board wants to at least double domestic consumption over the next 10 to 20 years through sustained promotional campaigns, consumer education, branding and wider access to quality coffee.These efforts come even as domestic coffee consumption is rising, especially in urban centres and among younger age groups, but still lags way behind tea, which enjoys high penetration across urban and rural areas.Tata Starbucks CEO Sushant Dash, who was in Hyderabad recently for opening their premium coffee outlet, said though coffee penetration in India has evolved rapidly from around 11%, it is still only around 20-25%, and is growing at around 20%.On pushing Indian coffee consumption globally, Dinesh said many overseas consumers remain unaware that India is the world’s seventh-largest coffee producer and sixth-largest exporter. Dinesh said higher exports will require higher production, improved farm practices and clear quality standards.He said the board is working with the ministry of external affairs to map global opportunities and has commissioned pilot consumer intelligence surveys in markets like Germany, Canada, Chile, Peru and China.Dinesh said India’s shade-grown, eco-friendly coffee gives it a distinct profile against producers such as Vietnam, Colombia and Indonesia.India produced about 3.62 lakh tonnes of coffee in FY26, of which nearly 70% was exported. If weather conditions are favourable, production could cross 4 lakh tonnes in FY27. The board has set a long-term target of raising output to 7 lakh tonnes by 2047. He said specialty coffee currently accounts for about 3% of output, which the board wants to raise to 15% by 2047.
