Right from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, foreign delegates and others who have attended the recent conferences in Visakhapatnam would not have forgotten the taste of Araku coffee. Mere promotion of the brand would not do as the basic aim here is to benefit the farmers, who are still being cheated by middlemen, says Girijan Co-operative Corporation (GCC) vice-chairman and MD ASPS Ravi Prakash. Having played a crucial role in promoting the GCC products in the last two years, Ravi Prakash shares his experiences, targets and other plans with Express.
Araku coffee is getting good response from all over. How do you feel about it?
Well, the credit goes to the quality beans produced by farmers which makes the difference. The brand has got a rousing response from the foreign delegates during the IFR and CII summit. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was also impressed. Some officials told me that he even spoke about it at a meeting in Chennai. We are very happy with the response.
How does GCC benefit the tribal farmers?
Around 20,000 farmers have registered themselves with us and another 1 lakh are associated with us indirectly. The GCC has reduced the role of middlemen, who used to offer `80 for parched coffee. But, we are giving `160. While the middlemen give `40 for cherry, while we are offering `70 to the ryots. Still, many farmers are being looted by middlemen who lend money for cultivation. On the issue, we recently held a board meeting and decided to invest money for around 5,000 needy farmers.
What is the productivity of Araku coffee and how is the market at present?
Last season (2015-16), we have procured 1,400 metric tonnes of raw material from which 800 tonnes of coffee was produced. About 90 per cent of it was sold through e-auction and the rest are used to make our own local brand. We were able to sell 15 tonnes worth `70 lakh. For a new product which was launched less than a year ago, it is not less than an achievement. Now, many companies are coming forward to distribute Araku Coffee. We are preparing for the season that will start in December. The coffee sold by auction to the companies sell it in Switzerland, Sweden, Italy and Dubai with the brand name Araku-India.
What about other products?
The GCC produces 25 varieties of minor forest produce. We buy Rock Bee honey, chiranji, soapnuts, kusum oilseed and many others from farmers by offering better prices. We have seven manufacturing centres, including the ones at Araku, V Madugula, Rajahmundry and Chittoor. Last fiscal, our target was around `180 crore and we have achieved `183 crore. This year the target is ` 360 crore.
But the GCC does not have many outlets in the state. Are you planning to open more?
Yes, we have a proposal to set up an exclusive showroom in Vijayawada. We have also decided to grant franchises to individuals or groups, who are keen on investing on exclusive showrooms. We are also into e-commerce as all the products are sold online.