Kerala students attempt to make ‘green coffee’ powder popular

PTI, May 27, 2024, 2:06 PM IST

Representative image (Source: Pexels)

Kochi: ‘Green tea’ has been a favorite drink of health-conscious people for quite some time, but what about making ‘green coffee’ popular? A group of Kerala students has now developed a new variety of health-friendly green coffee powder.

Students from the Laurus Institute for Logistics in Kalamassery said, inspired by the popularity of green tea, they came out with green coffee powder, as part of a project at their institute. This new drink aims to cater to the growing demand for healthy options and capitalise on the increasing focus on health and wellness, they said.

Rich in antioxidants, green coffee boosts metabolism and helps reduce diabetes, cholesterol, blood pressure, and weight, the students claimed.

They also received a certificate from the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) for the product.

Despite the widespread popularity of green tea, the students admitted that developing a new brand of green coffee powder was a significant challenge.

It was the 2020 batch of the institute that recognised the benefits of green coffee. The 30-member batch split into different groups and explored various concepts before settling on green coffee.

A 10-member team was interested in making FMCG products, and they considered tea and coffee due to their global popularity.

Abhijith M V, a member of the project team, said they unexpectedly discovered green coffee beans while they were in Palakkad seeking the best suppliers.

He said that although they sampled many other ready-made coffee powders, their focus remained on developing green coffee powder, which is not widely known.

The supplier mentioned that sun-dried green coffee pods were not in high demand, but the students were keen to learn about green coffee, Ajay Sankar, chairman of the institute, said.

“They brought the overlooked green coffee beans from Coorg and Palakkad to Kalamassery. In the second phase, they experimented by grinding the beans into different sizes,” Sankar said.

Multiple laboratory tests were conducted to determine the shelf life of the product, and finally, they decided to grind Arabica coffee beans into small granules and pack them.

Despite its many health benefits, the taste of green coffee was not particularly appealing, which concerned the students, the institute said in a statement.

Attempts to enhance the flavour with mint, cardamom, rose, and so on were abandoned as they reduced the shelf life of green coffee to six months, it said.

The students admitted that though ‘Laurus Nature’s Green Coffee’ was showcased to health clubs, gyms, medical shops, business groups and so on, their initial response was not positive. Eventually, customers were found by meeting each other personally and explaining the benefits of green coffee.

The students are now motivated by the fact that customers continue to buy it after experiencing the benefits from at least two packs, the chairman added.

Though the project was started by the 2020 batch, the green coffee project has been passed on to subsequent batches. Students continue to improve ‘Laurus Nature’s Green Coffee’ through ongoing research, he added.