Kaapi Royale Coffee

Karnataka, India

Kaapi Royale Coffee of Karnataka, India is a green coffee export company specializing in fine specialty Arabica and Robusta coffees, including the award winning coffees of Sethuraman Estates. Sethuraman Estates is a fifth generation coffee plantation in Magundi, Karnataka near Chikmagalur that has been universally recognized as one of the best growers of Robusta coffees worldwide, obtaining a record 94-point review from Ken Davids of CoffeeReview.com

Despite offering outstanding coffees, the Kaapi Royale Coffee brand and India coffee origin were not well known in specialty coffee trade circles, so Coffee Strategies was approached to assist with brand creation, awareness and promotion in key business-to-business specialty coffee markets of North America, Europe and Asia / Australasia.

Coffee Strategies began by evaluating all of the coffees offered by Kaapi Royale Coffee and its estate, as well as available processing methods, making suggestions of which coffee flavor profiles are likely to be preferred by professionals in various country markets. We collaborated with our client to identify new market opportunities that were not presently being served by traditional export companies, but are well-suited to Kaapi Royale’s strengths, such as the ability to custom prepare special preparation coffees that exhibit specific cupping characteristics made to order for individual high-end applications.

Being a relatively little-used origin in North America and facing the uphill battle of preconceived low-quality, we next pursued the joint approach of gaining independent evaluations by respected coffee roasters and trade writers, followed by blind tasting events at coffee industry conferences.  Coffees were entered in cupping competitions in-country and abroad, with best in category wins adding to a war chest of marketing support content.

Supported by independent evaluations and a slowly changing perception in Indian coffees, we began a campaign of consistent branding promotion online through websites and social media, at major industry trade conferences, frequent media updates on newsworthy events and accomplishments and with origin tours designed for coffee professionals.  Production enhancements, education and promotional marketing continue for Kaapi Royale Coffee, who each year adds to a growing list of highly-respected coffee import and direct trade roasting clientele around the world.