Before the 1950s, chicory was not cultivated in India. So all South Indian filter coffee had European-imported chicory.
In the late 1950s, the first chicory seeds were imported, and cultivation began in South India. It wasn't until 1971 that businesses realised that chicory cultivation in the South wasn't of the quality they saw in the imported variety.
And so, a family decided to go to the North-West of India and begin cultivation. This saw immediate results in the quality of chicory, and today, India has become one of the finest producers of premium-grade chicory.
The family processes chicory from farm to cup. In the first step, the chicory seeds imported from France are distributed to the farmers during September / October for growing.
Contracts are made with the farmers for quality & quantity. The harvesting of the roots is planned for mid-March to mid-May every year.
The company owns the complete harvest, handling equipment right from receiving the fresh roots from the farmers, cleaning, washing, dicing, sun drying, and eventually packing & storage.
The next step is roasting. Once the harvest is completed, the company roasts the chicory in its own facility in western India. This is where we specify the exact requirements as per our lab analysis.
The family owns 2 roasting factories in western India where it can roast the chicory as per our requirements. The working environment inside the roasting factory is maintained to meet the standards of food safety (certified by USDA Organic) and to provide a safe working environment for the workers.
We then receive our fresh batch of premium-grade chicory, to our exact specifications, shipped to Sydney.
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