Nagaland: The underdog coffee region, we should know about
Have you ever heard about coffee that grows in Nagaland? If you have, you’d be among the few who know about it. While we were all focused elsewhere, regions like Darjeeling, Nagaland, and Assam have worked diligently, emerging as promising new coffee-producing areas. While all of these regions require further research and exploration, here we are specifically looking into Nagaland’s story. While researching for this article, we had the opportunity to talk to various people working in the coffee industry in Nagaland. During these conversations, we understood how the people of Nagaland have embraced coffee, sharing knowledge and improvising along the way to create not only an interesting new coffee-producing region but also to build its own unique cafe culture.
The cultivation of coffee in Nagaland first began in the 1980s, with the Coffee Board of India working alongside the state government to make this happen. However this effort initially failed to achieve its intended success. Coffee production nearly ceased until the Department of Land Resources recognized the state's untapped potential and took steps to revitalise it. In 2015 , the department enlisted South African coffee researcher Dr. Pieter Vermeulen to guide their efforts. They found that Nagaland had the right geography and climate to support coffee cultivation, producing beans with desirable fruity flavour profiles.
Many factors contributed to the initial failure. Lichan Humtsoe, the founder of Ete Coffee and the first coffee roaster in northeastern India, highlighted some of these issues. In Nagaland, subsidies are a big motivating factor. In this case, the subsidies provided to farmers were insufficient, leading to a lack of investment in unfamiliar crops. Additionally, there was a lot of political unrest in the state surrounding the Indo-Naga war. These issues, combined with trade barriers that make it difficult to move things in and out of Nagaland, likely led to this. Lichan informed us that this issue of trade barriers still exists today. While things are getting better, it is still very difficult to get things in and out of the state. When he started Ete Coffee in 2016, he was working with a home convection oven to roast his coffee. Over the years, through trial and error, he has significantly improved the quality of his coffee and upgraded to better equipment. The coffee farmers in Nagaland face problems similar to other places in India and elsewhere, where they lack proper infrastructure. There isn’t enough awareness about the product they are selling and their “correct” price or at least correct to someone in the coffee value chain. With Ete coffee, Lichan has tried to remedy some of these problems. A big focus for Ete Coffee is to educate the farmers they work with about C Price and how the coffee value chain works. The company also has an Employability of Youth Fund (EYF), where 10% of the company’s profit goes into training the youth to be more employable.
After nearly a decade of revitalization efforts by the Department of Land Resources, Nagaland's future as a coffee-producing region looks more promising than ever. Atsi Jamir, the founder of Coffee Lady, a new and upcoming roastery in Nagaland, who also works closely with the Department of Land Resources, informed that according to GIS LRD Nagaland, it has been estimated that a total of 10,40,100 hectares (Ha) is suitable for coffee plantation in the state, which is about 62.7% of the state's total geographical area of 16,57,900 hectares. Today, over 10,000 hectares of land are covered by coffee plantations, including both Arabica and Canephora (Robusta) species. Like most plantations in India, these are developed naturally, where coffee is integrated into the forest's ecosystem without damaging it. Hence, this also makes these plantations naturally shade-grown. Atsi also acknowledged the valuable contributions of various industry figures, like Suhas Dwarakanath, owner of Benki Brewing Tools, Manohar Paul, founder of Indian Coffee Culture, and Binny Varghese/Baristaonbike, co-founder of Barista Training Academy, have made in fostering Nagaland’s growth as an emerging coffee-producing region.
Coffee from Nagaland first made a name for itself on the global stage when the roaster under the brand name “Nagaland Coffee” won the prestigious Gold award for their Nagaland Washing Station Natural Coffee at the Aurora International Taste Challenge (AITC) 2023, held in South Africa. (source: Nagaland Tribune) Co-founded by Vivito Yeptho and Dr. Pieter Vermeulen, "Nagaland Coffee" has been exporting coffee to South Africa, Singapore, Dubai, and several European countries. Initially, the company focused solely on exporting green coffee. However, in 2018, they expanded into roasting coffee and have since opened two coffee shops under the name "Nagaland Coffee Shop" in Kohima and Dimapur.
Nagaland’s cafe culture sets itself apart from any other place in India. Dili Khekho, the owner of Nagaland's first cafe, D/Cafe, explained how Nagaland is evolving into a unique coffee-consuming state. Traditionally a tea - drinking region, Nagaland now has more coffee drinkers than tea drinkers. During his travels, Dili observed that while many cafe -goers elsewhere might see coffee as an accompaniment to a meal, his café attracts patrons who come specifically to enjoy a good cup of coffee. Toya Kesiezie, owner of Niri Cafe in Kohima, whose menu only consists of beverages also agrees with this observation. If you have ever looked into the general menu structure of most cafes in India, you’d know that a menu serving only beverages would have a very difficult time elsewhere in India - only a few places might have such a menu, and even fewer would thrive with it. Despite the challenges, such as a predominantly Christian population that leads to limited business operations on Sundays and difficulties in finding baristas willing to work on Sundays, Nagaland’s café culture continues to thrive. Additionally, some local farmers still hesitate to prune coffee trees due to concerns about harming the plant.
During our conversation, Lichan also mentioned that, due to complex historical and governmental factors, many in Nagaland still aspire to government jobs, seen as the most secure and respected professions. However, the emerging coffee industry provides new opportunities for self-reliance and employment across the coffee value chain. With increasing popularity and demand, the future seems bright for Nagaland’s coffee, though challenges remain. Quality control issues persist, with some consumers reporting inconsistencies in bean size, roast profiles, and even pebbles among roasted beans. For a long time, Ete Coffee and Nagaland Coffee were the two main roasters in the state. Dili mentioned that the government has sanctioned the opening of seven more roasters in the state this year, which could foster healthy competition and improve quality. Despite these advancements, Nagaland still faces infrastructural issues. Lichen mentioned that while the Land Resource Department has funded additional washing stations and Lithanro Coffee has established a significant milling and grading station, there is still a need for more washing and milling stations accessible to farmers. A tremendous amount of work is yet to be done in educating every stakeholder along the coffee value chain on the optimal ways and best practices regarding coffee processing, sorting, and quality checking.
If you haven’t tried Nagaland’s Coffee yet, it's worth giving it a shot. Even better yet, plan a trip to Nagaland and experience the coffee at one of these cafes. This way, you can witness firsthand the changes happening in the coffee culture of this lesser-known coffee-growing region. However, Nagaland is only one of the seven sister states where coffee is grown. There is still much to learn about coffee cultivation and consumption practices in Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura, Assam, Manipur and Mizoram.
Fardeen Imdad Borah & Binny Varghese
(Barista Training Academy)
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