By K K Aiyamma
Deccan Chronicle is reporting that Starbucks (Tata Starbucks Limited to be precise) is “taking Coorg Coffee Global”. But it does not seem that the average Coorg planter is going to benefit much.
The news report quotes the company’s CEO, Avani Davda:
We have taken two very popular blends from India Indian estate blends and Indian espresso roast to the United States and Asia Pacific markets. India is a very long-term market for us and we see such initiatives only growing in the future.
The roasting plant at Kushalnagar is in joint partnership with Tata and it sources the beans from Tata Plantations.
But, it does seem that “coffee growing community” can benefit from their ” CSR initiatives”. According to their press release in 2013;
Starbucks and Tata share a commitment to community. To this end, Starbucks and Tata Global Beverages will work with Tata Coffee to invest in coffee-growing communities with a specific focus on agronomy, sustainable farming practices and a partnership to extend the Swastha Project’s Community Based Rehabilitation Programme to cover differently abled children in Kodagu, Karnataka. Working together the companies will focus on initiatives including but not limited to, the promotion of responsible agronomy practices and the provision of training local farmers, technicians and agronomists to improve their coffee-growing and milling skills, along with exploring social projects, which could positively impact the communities in the coffee-growing regions where they do business.
During the company’s annual meeting in 2o14, Davda had this to say;
Building a different kind of company, both are focused on developing future leaders for their markets through training and education investments for partners and defining unique, locally relevant ways to invest in their coffee growing communities of Yunnan, China and Coorg, South India.
