Since 2009, Gems of Araku, an annual harvest festival curated by Naandi Foundation, brings eminent coffee experts from across the globe together, to recognize and celebrate the “Gems” among coffees of the entire Araku region of Southeast India. The event has ensured that thousands of tribal farmers have access to global coffee expertise. In pursuit of excellence, the farmers and our in-house experts have actively worked with international cuppers and coffee evangelists to improve the quality of the bean, year to year.

The International experts cup the coffee according to strict cupping protocols without knowing who produced the coffee, multiple times, to determine which are the top-quality coffees. The coffees judged as the best coffees and earning a score of at least 85.6 are considered the Gems of the harvest. These gems are put up for auction. This year, Amrita won the Shared Value lot. We are the exclusive roaster of this exquisite lot.

The coffee is grown without chemicals by 37 tribal farmers of the Shared Value cooperative. A commitment is made by the cooperative to ensure that most of the economic returns get plowed back straight to the Araku farmers, rather than to investors or middlemen. The benefits are direct, with traceable exchange. But most importantly, it creates a virtuous cycle so that a continuous information feedback loop enables farmers, processors, and suppers to share their experiences. This enables them to achieve excellence from seed to cup. Shared value facilitates this holistic excellence and guarantees profits to farmers.