When you look at a packet of coffee powder, there’s every chance you will find that the word “chicory” is mentioned, along with its percentage. Chicory is a carbohydrate-rich root that often added to coffee, but coffee growers in Karnataka have been requesting the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to reduce the acceptable ratio of chicory content from 49% to around 30%, in a report titled “Status of Indian Coffee 2019.”
Chicory is mainly grown in parts of Gujarat for Indian consumers. The prices have remained a fraction of the price of coffee: Rs 60 per kg, against the market price of best quality coffee at around 150 per kg at wholesale rate. Adding the cheaper chicory to coffee keeps prices low, but the practice hurts coffee growers by reducing the demand for their coffee, they say.
“It is actually cheating the consumer by calling a ‘chicory mix’ as coffee. Coffee is not as soluble in water as chicory is, since coffee’s solubility is 30% whereas chicory’s solubility is as high as 70%. So, even if the chicory content is only 30%, the taste of the brew will be dominated by chicory flavour. It will not be coffee, as it is currently being marketed,” says Vishwanath KK, secretary of the Karnataka Growers Federation. “We suggest that such products be labelled as ‘Chicory with coffee added.’”
Chicory flower and root. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons
Chicory was originally found in France, and during World War II, most of the world was going through rationing. Since chicory is much cheaper than coffee, but similar in taste, the French began adding chicory to their coffee in order to stretch their coffee supplies. This habit was taken up by the British, who brought the idea to India. However, many countries have since stopped the practice of adding chicory to their coffee, and use coffee in its purest form, without any additives, the report says.
In India, however, the chicory practice continues. The current acceptable amount of chicory in packaged coffee is up to 49%, according to the FSSAI. Marketers like Bru’s Green Label utilise this limit to the fullest.
In the report, the Karnataka Growers Association has also enumerated other demands, including a minimum support price and better research into the management of the white borer pest.
The government also needs to look out for producers in the country, says Vishwanath, adding, “We demand better prices for our coffee. In a country where the food inflation is steady at 3.18% while we are paying GST of up to 12%, and current inflation is at 7.62%, where are the profits? The producers with small holdings are suffering, and there are hardly any margins. At this rate, people will move away from cultivation and India will be forced to import everything, which is unsustainable.”
There’s also the problem of low production of coffee. According to the report, the main problem seems to be the white stem borer, which lays its eggs in the bark of the plant. There is currently no other way to manage it except to burn the entire plant. A plantation crop, the coffee plant takes up to 10 years to mature, and pest infestation causes huge losses to the producers.
Changing climate pattern is also affecting coffee production: in the past two years, there have been heavy rains and flooding in parts of the Western Ghats, which has affected global supply, as reported by foreign media. All this means that the coffee growers need to fight for better demand for their produce, and better prices.
Pagalkumar, who is the Director of Pioneer Chicory, says that they would actually prefer if chicory is sold separately. “In South India, most people prefer to have chicory in their coffee. Even if the market moves away from selling coffee mixed with chicory, we are confident that people will continue to buy it separately as it is part of their taste preference. The move would benefit us,” he adds.