Tread along the Malabar coast of southwest
India and you will reach the picturesque port city of Mangalore, midway
between Kerala and Goa. The arrival of the British in the seventeenth
century and the influx of settlers saw the adjoining hilly forests
of the Western mountain ranges turn into coffee plantations - the
nearby port town becoming the logistics hub. Thus, while the forests
of Coorg, Chikmaglur and Hassan became proud plantations of coffee,
Mangalore became the two-way conduit, ensuring supplies to the plantations
as well as export of the finished produce. Coffee curing became a
major activity of the city.
Aspinwall & Co. Ltd.,
Mangalore
Aspinwall
established their facilities in the early 50's to ensure quality
supplies to the plantations as well as quality curing of the
coffees and eventual export to Europe. The curing works of Aspinwall
at this coastal town of India is the oldest, the best and the
only one that still continues to operate with vigour. With the
removal of restrictions on the commodity market of coffee, Aspinwall
entered into direct export of coffee. The company had the requisite
expertise and a team of dedicated people at the helm of affairs.
Today the activities
of the coffee division of Aspinwall encompasses
Servicing planters by means of supply of all plantation
inputs like fertilisers & chemicals and offering curing
services for their raw coffees
Warehousing of the coffees of the planters at various
points to ensure preservation of quality
Curing of raw coffee into clean form for domestic and
export sales
Processing of specialty grade monsooned coffee for export
Export of commercial, premium and specialty grade Indian
coffees
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