India’s coffee exports are seen declining for the past few years and fell to a nine-year low partly due to COVID-19, Drip Capital,a global trade finance company, said on Thursday. The ‘Coffee Report’ by the fintech company, based in Palo Alto , mentions that the pandemic led to a shift in consumption patterns and sales of coffee machines soared as coffee enthusiasts turned towards making the beverage at home rather than venturing outside.
India is the eighth-largest producer and exporter of coffee by volume. As per the Directorate General of Foreign Trade, India exported nearly $720 million worth of coffee in FY21, out of which 42% mainly constituted Robusta coffee beans exports.
However, coffee exports have declined at a CAGR of -3% between FY12 and FY-21, according to the report. “The fall can partly be attributed to Covid-19, wherein in FY19-20, India’s overall coffee exports reached a nine-year low in dollar value terms and plummeted by 44% in April 2020. Moreover, the crisis significantly impacted green coffee beans’ shipments in March 2020, which is the crucial period for Robusta coffee harvesting and exports,”Pushkar Mukewar, co-founder and CEO, Drip Capital, said. The report says that India could benefit significantly from value addition across the various stages of coffee processing.