Kochi: Wayanad, Kerala’s coffee heartland, is preparing to make its mark on the global stage with its own premium brand of robusta coffee — ‘Wayanadan Robusta’. This move is part of the Climate Smart Coffee Project spearheaded by the Department of Industries, aiming to transform local robusta into a world-class specialty brew.
Though Wayanad primarily grows robusta, most of it is second-grade due to poor post-harvest practices and lack of farmer awareness. Around 80% of growers are small-scale cultivators, and until recently, specialty-grade output was minimal. That perception changed when a Dutch delegation cupped Wayanadan robusta samples and awarded scores of 88 and 86 — far surpassing the 80-point threshold for “specialty coffee”.
Inspired by this, the project partnered with the Coffee Board to test beans from 300 local farmers, but the results ranged between 55 and 70 — a gap blamed on inferior processing. To fix this, a 20-acre coffee processing park is now in the works in Kalpetta. Supported by KINFRA and KIIFB, the facility will offer centralized processing, training, and support to help farmers consistently produce premium-quality beans.
The park will also house a start-up incubator, cupping lab, coffee museum, and café. Meanwhile, a new domestic trademark — “Malabar Coffee” — is also being developed.
Wayanad’s robusta earned praise at the 2024 Specialty Coffee Expo in Denmark, marketed as ‘Wayanad’s Indian Fine Robusta’.