Robusta coffee under pressure on improved supplies from Vietnam
The Coffee Board, in its initial or post-blossom estimates, has pegged the output for 2025-26 at a record high of 4.03 lakh tonnes
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BISWARANJAN ROUT
Farmgate prices of robusta, the widely grown coffee variety in the country, are currently trending down by 13-17 per cent compared with the year-ago levels as supplies have improved from the largest producer, Vietnam. The decline in prices have left growers anxious at the start of the harvest season, compounded by picking costs that have more than doubled over past year due to labour shortage.
As per Coffee Board data, prices of Robusta Parchment, which ruled in the range of ₹18,800-19,400 per 50-kg bag during early January last year, are now trending lower in the ₹15,500-16,000 levels, a decline of 17 per cent. Similarly, the widely-produced Robusta Cherry prices have declined currently to ₹9,500-10,250 levels, down from ₹10,900-11,200 levels in early January last year.
“Vietnam has had a good crop and that’s the reason robusta prices are under pressure. It is a mystery that the prices of both varieties of coffees are moving differently,” said Shivanna Halase, President, Karnataka Growers Federation.
Demand muted
Arabica prices in early January are up compared to last year’s levels. Arabica Parchment are hovering around ₹25,800-26,300 per 50 kg bag levels over the ₹22,600-23,000 levels a year ago. Also, the Arabica Cherry is up ranging at ₹13,400-15,000 levels compared with ₹12,300-13,000 levels a year ago.
Shivanna said this year, the demand seems muted, and there’s no aggressive buying from the local aggregators and traders, who used to come to the doorsteps asking for coffee. “This year, we will have to wait for the large buyers,” he said. Also, there are last year’s robusta parchment stocks left with growers, he said.
“In fact, Robusta prices have declined by 22 per cent from their peak levels last year,” said M Salman Baseer, Chairman, Karnataka Planters Association (KPA). “Robusta crop does not look very great, though its very early to say. But the cost of picking has gone up drastically. Labourers want higher price to pick and at the same time they don’t want to pick the ripe and unripe beans separately, which has become a challenge. Till last year, the picking cost for robusta used to be ₹3-4 per kg, and this year it has gone up to ₹8 per kg.”
Also, probably due to the rains in November, December, there’s is enough moisture in the soil and the ripening of robusta has not taken place uniformly, forcing growers to go for selective picking to maintain the quality, Salman said.
The KPA chairman said the growers are caught between the trade and volatile prices. “When global prices go up by few cents, the traders are not increasing it much in tandem. However, when the global prices drop by 5-10 cents, traders cut the local prices sharply. With increasing production costs, we are not realising the complete benefit of the price,” he said.
The Coffee Board, in its initial or post-blossom estimates, has pegged the output for 2025-26 at a record high of 4.03 lakh tonnes, comprising 2.84 lakh tonnes of robustas and 1.18 lakh tonnes of Arabica. During 2024-25, India’s coffee output stood at 3.63 lakh tonnes.
Published on January 7, 2026
