Tata Coffee is coffee company owned by the Tata Consumer Products, a subsidiary of Tata Group. The company owns 19 coffee estates in southern India. The estates are spread across the districts of Coorg, Chikmagalur, and Hassan in Karnataka and Valparai district in Tamil Nadu. Tata Coffee is the largest integrated coffee plantation company in the world. Tata Coffee entered into a coffee sourcing and roasting agreement with Starbucks Coffee Company to supply coffee beans to its coffee chains in India. Both agreed to work toward developing and improving the profile of India-grown coffee around the world, as well as improving the quality of coffee through sustainable practices and advanced agronomy solutions. In 2012, the two companies launched the equal joint ventureTata Starbucks. According to the reports, Tata Coffee established a $50 million greenfield instant coffee facility in Vietnam.
History
Tata Coffee's past was rooted in 1922 when two companies—M/s Coorg Co. Ltd., London and M/s Pollibetta Coffee Estates Co. Ltd., London—both managed by Matheson and Company, combined to form Consolidated Coffee Estates Ltd., Edinburgh. In 1943, Consolidated Coffee Estates Ltd., Edinburgh became a full-fledged Indian company headquartered in Pollibeta. In the same year, the shares in Consolidated Coffee Estates Limited were offered to the general public through a prospectus, with the parent, Edinburgh Company, being allotted a major share as a consideration for transfer of its estates. Shortly thereafter, during the early part of the 1950–1960 decade, the Edinburgh Company sold all its shareholdings to the Indian public, relinquishing its controlling interest in CCE and becoming one of the first sterling plantation company to become an Indian company. During 1966–67, Volkart properties in India, which included four estates, two curing works and an export division, merged with CCE, and the company was renamed as the erstwhile Consolidated Coffee Limited. Tata Tea Limited, in a trend setting and transparent open offer to the resident shareholders, acquired a controlling interest in CCL during 1991-1992. CCL became the single largest coffee plantation company in Asia with its estates located in Kodagu, Hassan, and Chikmagalur districts of Karnataka. In a historic move in September 1999, M/s Asian Coffee Ltd., M/s Veerarajendra Estates Ltd., and M/s Charagni Ltd., merged with CCL, and became the single largest integrated plantation company in the world. In 2000, the company was renamed as "Tata Coffee Limited".
Awards
Since 2002, Tata Coffee has been consistently named the best coffee in India by the Coffee Board of India's annual Flavour of India – Fine Cup Award, holding the title, in 2017, for the seventh consecutive year. In 2012, Tata Coffee was recognized for initiatives taken to mitigate climate change risks with the 2011 - 2012 Green Business Leadership Award by The Financial Express and Emergent Ventures India, an integrated climate change company partnered with the Indian School of Business. On 16 October 2017, Tata coffee was judged "Best Coffee in India" at the Ernesto Illy Second Annual International Coffee Awards.
