Goa’s coffee market is getting hip. Recently Bangalore based, The Flying Squirrel Coffee launched artisan coffee – the latest coffee sold in fashionable cafes and restaurants in metros. Artisan or hand-crafted coffee is the hottest fad among sophisticated coffee drinkers. Here, Ashish D’Abreo, founder-partner, The Flying Squirrel, talks on prospects and plans for Goa market. He says to Shoma Patnaik, that, artisan coffee is not looked upon as “wake up beverage” and is definitely costlier than regular coffee.
Q: How recent is the trend of artisanal coffee in India?
It is a new trend. When we started out three-and-half year back there were just two players. Today everyone is jumping on to the bandwagon. But it is nice to see more players because we need that kind of awareness. Most people are not aware about the difference in coffee. There is so much going on in beer, wines and similarly even coffee lot to offer. In Goa we are probably the first artisan coffee brand.
Q: How do you plan to popularize your brand in Goa?
Goa is virgin territory. It is a lot more cosmopolitan than people perceive it to be. Awareness of artisan coffee is low but many Goans buy our brand online. And every visit I am surprised to find new consumers. But it is not going to be easy popularizing this type of coffee. We want to do lot of word of mouth publicity to aid the process because even in markets like Bangalore artisanal coffee drinkers are select type. We are a small brand. We don’t have big budgets to advertise or put up hoardings. But because of the uniqueness in taste and the thought behind it we are hopeful of the awareness percolating down to consumers. Currently we will be retailing from the two restaurants of The Caravela- in Panjim and Candolim.In future we plan to increase presence with retail space in select stores.
Q: What about the consumption of artisan coffee worldwide?
Worldwide especially in countries of west Europe and the US there is this third wave of coffee going on. The first wave was about any roasted beans. People didn’t really bother from where it came or anything. The second wave was about brands. Consumers started subscribing to a particular brand. In the third wave that is currently on, passionate coffee drinkers are not bothered about branding. They are looking at where the coffee is grown, what kind of processes are being followed, the freshness of taste,etc. The third wave is really catching up in the west and in India, albeit on a very small scale.
Q: What is your production of this exclusive type of coffee?
In 2015-16 we did about six-and-half ton of sale vis-à-vis three ton in the previous year. But I wouldn’t go by the percentage increase because we are still very small company and growing. Our sales are in Bengaluru, Delhi, Jaipur, Pune, Rourkela and now Goa.
Q: Is there any export of artisan coffee from India?
Unfortunately India does not have that kind of recognition in the international market even though our coffee is best in quality. Currently regular coffee is being exported but in a small way. First of all there is a huge market for normal coffee among Indians living abroad. They want to drink coffee grown in their own land. But domestic companies have not tapped this market leave alone the artisan segment.
Q: What is the difference between normal coffee and artisan?
Artisan coffee is literally handcrafted. It is doing diff things to your coffee from a natural perspective. The difference begins right from the farmer stage. Our own coffee is cross-cropped in citrus and spice plantation in Coorg. The processing, storage and roasting of artisan is different. The cost of production is at least 70 per cent higher because we produce in small batches. The end price to customer is correspondingly high. Artisan coffee is not looked as ‘wake-up-beverage’ by companies. It is about taste and for the discerning lover of the beverage.