Allana Consumer expects coffee exports to slow in FY26 on volatile markets

Allana Consumer Products Ltd, the country's fourth-largest coffee exporter, expects exports to slow to 22,000-25,000 tonnes in the current fiscal year due to volatile global markets, a senior company official said on Tuesday.

The company exported 26,300 tonnes of coffee in the 2024-25 financial year.

"We have done around 11,000 metric tonnes of green coffee exports until the end of August. We hope to do anything between 11,000 and 15,000 for the rest of the year," C P Bopanna, associate director of Allana's coffee division, told PTI.

Allana has scaled back export volumes over the past two years as market volatility has made it difficult to plan growth, Bopanna said.

"Past 1-1.5 years, we have seen the kind of volatility that we have not seen in the past 40 years. It is very difficult to project or even make a strategy saying I am going to grow at 5 or 10 per cent per annum," he said.

The company is prioritising profit margins over revenue growth as it navigates uncertain markets, buying and trading coffee opportunistically, he added.

The company's export volumes ranged from 25,000 to 29,600 tonnes in the last five years.

Allana exports to the Middle East, North Africa, Russia, Europe, South Korea and Southeast Asia. The company holds a 60-70 per cent market share in the Middle East region, with the remainder split between Europe and other countries.

Exports to the US, already negligible due to high freight costs, will decline further because of tariffs, Bopanna said.

It makes more sense for US buyers to source coffee from Brazil, one of the world's largest producers, he added.

The company operates processing facilities with a combined capacity of 20,000 tonnes at Hassan and a monsooning plant in Mangalore, supplemented by outsourced and leased facilities in Chikmagalur, Kushalnagar, and Kochi.

"As of now there is no need to increase the capacity because we have handled quantities between 25,000-35,000 tonnes within the 5 units itself," Bopanna said.

On India's coffee production outlook, Bopanna said the latest Coffee Board report estimates slight growth in 2025-26 (October-September) at 4.03 lakh tonnes, but untimely rains could result in a small drop from earlier projections.

"It is only when the harvest starts we will know the actual condition," he said.