Nepal Coffee Producers Association (NCPA) in association with Agricultural Products Export Promotion Center is forming a committee to check irregularities and unorganized growth of coffee shops.[break]
The committee will consist of members from Department of Commerce (DoC), Trade and Export Promotion Center (TEPC), Department of Agriculture, National Tea and Coffee Development Board (NTCDB), exporters and producers among others.
Talking to the Republica, Shyam Prasad Bhandari, chairman of NCPA, said lately a huge number of coffee outlets have started operations in the valley.
"We will form a committee this month and will soon start inspecting coffee outlets as we have received complaints that many outlets are selling coffee without organic certification, duplicate coffee in the name of Arabica coffee and mixing exported coffee with Nepali coffee and even running outlets without registration," informed Bhandari.
Nepal has potentials to produce high quality of Arabica coffee due to improved growing and processing methods in Nepal but it still imports different varieties of international coffee brands.
According to Tejendra Nath Shrestha, president of Restaurant and Bar Association Nepal (REBAN), within a period of one year around 30 to 40 outlets, especially for coffee lovers have come into operation. However, exact figure is not available as many are operating without any registration.
"The unnatural growth in the number of coffee outlets is mainly due to lack of single-window registration system. This means, even if we try to regulate we cannot get the exact figure," said Shrestha.
Espresso Coffee, Lavazza, Illy, Himalayan Beans, Starbuck Coffee are some of the most frequented coffee outlets while leading coffee outlet Himalayan Java has added four outlets within the valley.
According to NTCDB, with the plantation of one million saplings in a year by Project for Agriculture Commercialization and Trade (PACT), the plantation area has expanded. Coffee production in the fiscal year 2009/10 has increased by almost 20 percent.
Besides, trademark for Nepali Coffee is soon to be registered in America, Canada, Japan, European Union, Norway, Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore among others.
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