Araku Coffee by Tribals Won the Prestigious Gold Medal in Paris.

The coffee industry is a big business, but it’s a robust industry for small-scale coffee producers to compete with countries with massive coffee production. However, notwithstanding the strong race, in the industry, some of the small business owners manage to be known in the market because of their quality and authenticity.

Araku Coffee, a homegrown coffee in India, cultivated by tribal youth in Andhra Pradesh, had captured the palates of many and won the prestigious award for the best coffee pod at the Prix Epicures OR 2018 Award in Paris, France.

The coffee had made their debut last year when the brand opened their first flagship cafe store in the capital of France, and since then they manage to capture the hearts of many amidst big competition from the popular brands Colombian and Sumatran coffee bean variety.

Photo via Araku coffee FB

The Araku Coffee was started as tribal empowerment, led by Naandi Foundation, which aimed to hearken the marginalized communities from a life of exploitation, unemployment, and deprivation.

A News18 report said the coffee brand was formed in “an attempt to give the tribal youth in the Araku Valley of the state more employment opportunities”.

The brand had made quite a journey before paving its way to Paris, in fact, the coffee bean was first to introduce to its neighboring valley in the late nineteenth century by a British man, before slowly making its way to the Araku Valley by the mid-1950s.

“In 1956, the Andhra Pradesh government had established the Girijan Co-operative Corporation (GCC) to provide dignified livelihoods to the tribals of Araku Valley by engaging them in coffee cultivation and production,” says The Better India.

Later part in 2008, the foundation had established a social enterprise named ‘Araku Originals’ to give the coffee a global identity and began drawing buyers from countries like Japan, South Korea, Switzerland, and France.

Araku now has its own store in the trendy upper Maraise neighborhood of Paris. It is also sold in La Grande Epicerie, a grocery store.

A more important milestone than might seem apparent at 1st glance. In a land of gourmets, an Indian coffee, grown by Adivasis in an underdeveloped part of India, has been ranked as one of the best coffee brands in the market. It’s time Indian food brands crack the premium segment https://t.co/Uyk5YbdCeh

— anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) October 10, 2018