Industrial visit to Mercara Gold Estate situated at, Coorg: Dept. PG studies in FSN

The Department of P.G Studies in Food Science and Nutrition had organized an industrial visit for the M.Sc students ( 20 students) accompanied by 2 teaching faculty on 6th July 2022 to Mercara Gold Estate situated at, Coorg. The visit was undertaken to provide the students with visuals of various stages of coffee cultivation and processing along with spice cultivation.

Sun Blessed Coffee Private Limited's mission statement is pioneering fine coffee in India. The company owns a beautiful little plantation called Mercara Gold Estate, nestled amidst lush greenery in the home of the finest coffee-growing region of India - Coorg (Kodagu). Whilst coffee was growing there since the 1960s, they acquired it in 1998 and began a process of transformation by organizing it into a well-laid-out farm with a wide array of coffee, spices, and fruit trees. The tour at Mercara Gold Estate was an encyclopedic and enriching experience. The expert Mr. Ravi not only educated us on coffee growing but also gave us exposure to state of art coffee processing which includes sorting, drying, roasting and packaging facility. They have a well-laid farm & follow farm processes & practices that are best in class for an optimum yield & fine quality produce of Arabica, Robusta & Liberica coffees. The students also had a glimpse of different products like green coffee beans, different varieties of coffee powder, and spice varieties manufactured by them in their outlet, which is situated at the entrance of the estate.

The students gained knowledge of the different aspects of coffee processing and understood the difference between the varieties of coffee, which also include the processing of coffee from coffee berry to dry beans and coffee powder. The expert also showed the students the cultivation of different spices.

The whole visit was informative as well as a brainstorming session for the students on various aspects of coffee processing.