Farmer Shreedev and his wife Sushmita run three family coffee farms – Chinnenahalli, Hulikere and Woodway. The family has been growing coffee for three generations and Chinnenahalli Farm is their home.
Woodway Estate, a plantation established by the British in the 1880s, is one of the few coffee farms in the world to be certified Wildlife Friendly.
Farms are located in the Baba Budan Giri Hills growing area in the Western Ghats of India. The Western Ghats in India is one of the eight “most interesting” biodiversity hotspots in the world and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This mountain chain stretches along the west coast of India. Many South Indian rivers originate in these mountains.
Coffee is grown on local farms in a traditional polycultural shady landscape with a high density and diversity of native and endemic shade tree species that support a wide variety of birds, butterflies and mammals. The plantations are home to endemic birds such as the Nilgiri woodpecker, Blyth’s starling and Malabar parrot, among others, as well as vulnerable mammals such as the sambar and flying squirrel, among many others.
The plantations are located about 5 km south of the Bhadra Tiger Reserve, which is an important national park and home to a number of wild animals including tiger, leopard, elephant and gaur.
KaadKaapi is a collective in South India which keeps animals free to move and passage in the countryside and around farms.
It supports long-term sustainability by working with farmers in Chikmagalur and Coorg districts to implement wildlife-friendly cultivation methods, providing financial and advisory support, and ensuring access to premium international markets. This approach benefits both wildlife conservation and local farmers economically.
Traditional coffee agroforests in this region help preserve local biodiversity by providing alternative habitats for wildlife. However, market changes and rising cultivation costs are driving farmers towards practices that harm biodiversity.
All the varieties offered by the KaadKaapi farmers regardless of the location of their farm are 100% arabicas. But maybe to make it easier to understand the potential of those, not so well known cultivars, it is good to see what the letters and numbers in their names stand for.
Both lots from Hulikere Farm are of the variety S795.
S795 – One of the most popular Arabica selections released in India during the 1940s with high yields, bold beans, superior quality and relative tolerance to leaf rust. This selection was developed using ‘Kents’ Arabica, known for its high quality. Even today, the S795 is a favorite with the planters and is a widely cultivated Arabica variety. This is also known as ‘Jember’ in Indonesia.
The S795 variety is processed using the natural method. The coffee is harvested and then dried in the sun for 15 days on raised beds under the natural shade of trees, without any additional treatment. During drying, the beans are turned every 2–3 hours to ensure uniform drying, and each evening the raised beds are covered to protect the coffee from dew. Naturally processed in this way, the coffee develops a fuller body with more fruity, fermented notes.
The S795 variety is processed using the washed method. The process begins with the manual harvesting of ripe coffee cherries, which are then carefully sorted to remove unripe or defective ones. After removing the floaters, the cherries are depulped. The depulped beans are fermented for 18 hours in fermentation tanks, and once the mucilage has softened, they are mechanically washed with clean water. The coffee is then dried for 10 days on concrete patios under a shade net that keeps the temperature below 38 °C throughout the process. To ensure uniform drying, the beans are turned every 2–3 hours, and each evening they are piled up and covered to protect them from dew. In the morning, the cover is removed, and the coffee is spread out again to continue drying.
The Chandragiri variety is processed using the natural method. The coffee is harvested and then dried in the sun for 15 days on raised beds under the natural shade of trees, without any additional treatment. During drying, the beans are turned every 2–3 hours to ensure uniform drying, and each evening the raised beds are covered to protect the coffee from dew. Naturally processed in this way, the coffee develops a fuller body with more fruity, fermented notes.
The S795 variety is processed using the washed method. The process begins with the manual harvesting of ripe coffee cherries, which are then carefully sorted to remove unripe or defective ones. After removing the floaters, the cherries are depulped. The depulped beans are fermented for 18 hours in fermentation tanks, and once the mucilage has softened, they are mechanically washed with clean water. The coffee is then dried for 10 days on concrete patios under a shade net that keeps the temperature below 38 °C throughout the process. To ensure uniform drying, the beans are turned every 2–3 hours, and each evening they are piled up and covered to protect them from dew. In the morning, the cover is removed, and the coffee is spread out again to continue drying.
Fully ripe cherries are selectively hand-picked, hand sorted, and density sorted in water to remove floaters and foreign matter. The selected cherries are transferred to food-grade barrels and inoculated with mosto derived from a previous anoxic fermentation batch and sealed. The mosto serves as a fermentation catalyst, introducing an active microbial community that accelerates and guides the fermentation process. The cherries undergo 48 hours of anoxic fermentation before being dried on raised beds and / or patio using a combination of shade drying and polyhouse drying. Once the desired moisture level is achieved, the dried cherries are cupped, quality assessed, and segregated into lots before being stabilized in storage. The coffee is then machine hulled, colour sorted, and hand garbled to ensure consistency and defect control, before being packed in hermetic liners within new Ijira jute bags for export.
Fully ripe cherries are selectively hand-picked, hand sorted, and density sorted in water to remove floaters and foreign matter. The selected cherries are transferred to food-grade barrels and inoculated with mosto derived from a previous anoxic fermentation batch and sealed. The mosto serves as a fermentation catalyst, introducing an active microbial community that accelerates and guides the fermentation process. The cherries undergo 48 hours of anoxic fermentation before being dried on raised beds and / or patio using a combination of shade drying and polyhouse drying. Once the desired moisture level is achieved, the dried cherries are cupped, quality assessed, and segregated into lots before being stabilized in storage. The coffee is then machine hulled, colour sorted, and hand garbled to ensure consistency and defect control, before being packed in hermetic liners within new Ijira jute bags for export.
Fully ripe cherries are selectively hand-picked, hand sorted, and mechanically density sorted to remove underdeveloped, damaged, and low-density cherries, as well as other foreign matter. After pulping, the parchment coffee is transferred to fermentation tanks, where it undergoes approximately 18 hours of aerobic fermentation. Following fermentation, the coffee is washed mechanically to remove residual mucilage. The washed parchment is then dried on raised beds and/or patios for approximately 15 days, using a combination of shade drying and polyhouse drying, until the target moisture content is achieved. Once dried, the coffee is cupped, quality assessed, and segregated into individual lots before being stabilized in storage. The coffee is then machine hulled, colour sorted, and hand garbled to ensure consistency and defect control, before being packed in hermetic liners within new Ijira jute bags for export.
Fully ripe cherries are selectively hand-picked, hand sorted, and density sorted in water to remove floaters and foreign matter. The selected cherries undergo 72 hours of anoxic fermentation in sealed food-grade barrels, followed by approximately 25 days of drying on raised beds and / or patio using a combination of shade drying and polyhouse drying. Once the desired moisture level is achieved, the dried cherries are cupped, quality assessed, and segregated into lots before being stabilized in storage. The coffee is then machine hulled, colour sorted, and hand garbled to ensure consistency and defect control, before being packed in hermetic liners within new Ijira jute bags for export.
Fully ripe cherries are selectively hand-picked, hand sorted, and density sorted in water to remove floaters and foreign matter. The selected cherries are transferred to food-grade barrels and inoculated with mosto derived from a previous anoxic fermentation batch and sealed. The mosto serves as a fermentation catalyst, introducing an active microbial community that accelerates and guides the fermentation process. The cherries undergo 48 hours of anoxic fermentation before being dried on raised beds and / or patio using a combination of shade drying and polyhouse drying. Once the desired moisture level is achieved, the dried cherries are cupped, quality assessed, and segregated into lots before being stabilized in storage. The coffee is then machine hulled, colour sorted, and hand garbled to ensure consistency and defect control, before being packed in hermetic liners within new Ijira jute bags for export.
