Is Blockchain The Ultimate Fort Knox?

India is readying itself for the next digital revolution, and everything from your bank account to your next cup of gourmet coffee is set to go high-tech. Still think blockchain is just about Bitcoins?

- Hari Menon

India is known as a tea country. Everyone wants chai-pani. Ever wondered why? Our GenX population, let alone the millennials, is a bit too young to know the reason. However, Srivatsa Krishna, Secretary, Coffee Board of India explains the history behind our love for tea. The British would distribute it on street corners for free, apparently. For free! And don’t we love free stuff? Besides, it’s only likely competitor — coffee, wasn’t too conveniently available then. Making filter coffee required patience, and instant coffee hadn’t seen the light of the day. Meanwhile, preparing tea was simple — boil the leaves, add milk and sugar, and ta-daa! The legacy lives on. Today, India produces the only shade-grown, hand-picked Arabica coffee in the world. Sadly, 98% of India’s nearly 350,000 coffee growers cultivate it on plantations under 10 hectares. The 350,000 tonne of coffee they produce is heavily dependent on subsidies of 400-500 million per year. However, there’s good news.

MISTER BEAN

The Coffee Board is currently working with small growers to boost their earnings, by premiumising Indian coffee. Krishna says, although among the best produced globally, Indian coffee fetches the standard 200-300/kg. To illustrate his point, he says, “Japanese importers buy our coffee at 300-1,000/ kg, package it beautifully, and sell it at ¥70,000/kg. That’s 45,000/ kg.” Further, an average cuppa Joe costs about $2 on the streets of New York. An Indian coffee grower who probably supplied the beans barely makes five cents on the cup. Krishna wants to double that amount and says confidently that by infusing technology, he can convert that five into 15. Here’s how his team plans to get the world’s sixth-largest coffee-producing nation noticed.