'India has failed to project its coffee in Chinese market'

Bangalore, Feb 24 (UNI) India has failed to penetrate the vast coffee markets in China and Hong Kong as it had not projected itself despite producing a world standard commodity, Coffee and Tea Academy of Hong Kong and China Chairman Barry Chi Tak Yuen said today.

Speaking at a session on 'Trends and Prospects in International Coffee Market', organised as part of the India International Coffee Festival-2007 by the Coffee Board here, he said coffee growers like Brazil, Colombia and Vietnam had emerged as major exporters to China and Hong Kong, while India lagged behind to showcase its varieties.

''The fact is that traders in China and Hong Kong do not know that India grows coffee. You have to make efforts to make yourself known in our country. Like Bollywood, which everyone knows, you have to promote 'Indian Coffeewood' to sell your coffee in China and Hong Kong,'' he said.

Mr Yuen, however, said that while it was easy to enter the Hong Kong market, it was tough to penetrate China. ''The ground reality is that you can just walk into Hong Kong market, but it is tough to penetrate mainland China. China has high duty and tough parameters for hygiene. You have to be a hardened professional to export your goods to China,'' he added.

UNI