Tata Coffee wins FICCI Sustainable Agriculture Award 2021 for its Soil and Water Conservation Initiatives
India’s leading producer of specialty coffee- Tata Coffee Limited (TCL) recently won the ‘Sustainable Agriculture Award’ at the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) Agriculture Summit and Awards 2021. The company was recognized for its Soil and Water Conservation initiatives undertaken at its plantations and instant coffee plants.
Kiran Ganapathy (Head of Plantations -Operations) and Samir Palsule (Head -Business Excellence) received the award on behalf of the company from members of the FICCI Agriculture Committee. The award was granted under the ‘Large Corporate’ category and TCL was conferred the award for significant on-ground interventions in sustainable agriculture development. The entries were shortlisted and evaluated based on the agricultural challenges faced, the initiatives to mitigate such challenges, the outcome and impact of the practices, its scalability and ways to extend the program to benefit small farmers.
The Agri summit brought key stakeholders and policymakers on a common platform to ideate an implementable strategy for smart and sustainable agriculture. It was attended by CEOs and business heads of the agri and food industry, policymakers, multilateral and bilateral institutions, NGOs, academicians, researchers, embassies, financial institutions, development organisations etc. who discussed and recommended practical pathways for the promotion and adoption of best sustainable agriculture practises on a large scale.
Chacko Thomas, Managing Director & CEO, Tata Coffee speaking on receiving the award said, “Tata Coffee is honoured to be recognized for its commitment to sustainable agricultural practices, and soil and water conservation are a key part of our sustainability strategy. We have adopted scientific ways to conserve water to store excess run-off from the rainwater, in healthy catchment areas. As a result, we now have 274 tanks with a storage capacity of 3.4 Mn cubic meters. This model has ensured that our irrigation is 95% self-reliant and no groundwater is ever exploited. Over the last few years, we have also successfully enhanced the soil fertility in the estates, through regular application of organic compost into the soil. Few other initiatives undertaken towards soil conservation include – contour planting, intercropping, planting of new trees and cover crops. We have also carried out several interventions in terms of training programs and awareness campaigns towards adopting improved technologies in all operations.
We are extremely proud that our efforts are being recognized by such esteemed organisations.”
About Tata Coffee Limited:
Tata Coffee Limited [TCL] is a subsidiary of Tata Consumer Products Limited [TCPL], formerly known as, Tata Global Beverages Limited [TGBL]. It is Asia’s largest integrated coffee Company, the second largest exporter of Instant Coffee and foremost producer of Specialty Coffee in India. The Company produces between 8,000 - 10,000 MT of shade grown Arabica and Robusta Coffee at its estates in South India. Tata Coffee’s estates are certified by three agencies: UTZ, Rainforest Alliance and SA 8000 reaffirming its commitment to the people and the environment. TCL exports Green Coffee to countries in Europe, Asia, Middle East and North America. The Company is also the largest corporate producer of Pepper in India. The Company’s two Instant Coffee manufacturing facilities in India have a combined installed capacity of 8,400 MT. The Company is the exclusive and sole supplier of Premium Specialty Arabica roaster beans to Tata Starbucks stores in India. The Company had also launched its Coffee brand, ‘Sonnets’, with Single Origin Specialty Arabica beans, on its e-commerce portal. TCL, through its wholly owned Subsidiary, Tata Coffee Vietnam Company Limited [TCVCL], had commissioned a state-of-the-art Freeze-Dried Instant Coffee manufacturing facility in Vietnam with a capacity of 5,000 MT per annum, which became operational during Q1FY20.