Grown on the foothills of the Baba Budan Mountain range in Karnataka, Halli Berri is a leading gourmet coffee brand. Tejini Kariappa, co-owner, Halli Berri, talks about the brand’s proud legacy and growth of artisanal coffee segment By Sudipta Dev
What makes Halli Barri coffee so unique?
Halli Berri is today a pioneer in single origin artisanal coffee in India. We are proud to be front runners in the gourmet coffee segment. Our story has let many people into the world of responsible luxury coffee growing in India and the efforts carried out in the pursuit of making Halli Berri “trend”.
A brief history of your plantation. Why is yours an all women organisation?
We have been growing coffee for so long that today it is a legacy that we carry forward. Today Halli Berri is Rainforest Alliance certified and we support 296 species of migratory birds and are India proud. Being an all women concern was not a planned itinerary. it is something that just happened and like they say “when strong women come together miracles can happen”
What are your hospitality offerings for the new age traveller?
We have been rated No.1 on Trip Advisor for four years in a row and our little secret is what brings wander bugs from near and far to make it into the mountains and release their souls to be rejuvenated into what we call responsible luxury. Treks along the waterfall and in the Badra Reserve to the Elephant Bathing Camp are few offerings at Halli Berri cottages.
What are your plans for the future – both for production and marketing of coffee and hospitality business?
Strategic planning is an imperative part of growing any business. Quality over quantity is something that we follow through and through as a part of our brands value system. We are reaching a stage of structuring all our divisions in a manner where we could move on to invite an investor to take our business to the next level.
What are the changing trends in terms of coffee consumption in India?
Though the coffee market in India is very nascent in comparison to the tea market. The Indian coffee segment is slowly growing with globalisation. With more and more avid travellers bringing back gourmet foods from around the world it has created the strategic rise in artisanal coffee. A niche segment; single estate coffee like ours have gained the momentum they duly deserve through the support of the informed globe trotter and inquisitive coffee addict.
Any other significant factor related to coffee business in the country?
I think it is imperative for our government to support the coffee growing community in India by providing the necessary subsidies, support and benefits needed to build the Indian coffee segment into what could be exotic coffees from India to the world. Measures need to be taken to encourage those wholesalers and exporters who sell Indian coffee in the global consumption market under other origins to gain higher prices and to enjoy benefits of coffee branding given to specific countries that fetch higher prices. In the last financial year, the global export market showed only one product under the above profit line, and that product was coffee. If we go by just facts and figures we can not only put Indian coffee on the map but also make coffee go beyond necessary product training – to make India a strategic coffee growing segment where buyers and sellers respect the community that grows it.
