Sunanda Sanganeria

New Delhi, 7 May

The Internet initiative for coffee trading started by ITC’s international business division in Karnataka has evoked good response with around 500 tonnes of coffee worth Rs 2 crore being sold through this facility within a month of its inception.

The e-choupal, which went online last year, comprises traders and planters connected by a transaction gateway. The network has created a new marketplace for coffee, bringing together planters, exports, traders and roasters.

At present, ITC has installed 80 traders and planters kiosks across the Kodagu region at cost of Rs 3 crore, including hardware, software and training imparted to farmers and agents.

Currently, about 40-50 planters access the kiosk regularly. Karnataka has an estimated 100,000 planters, of which around 3,500 use this facility. "Since the numbers of users is increasing, there is a proposal to treble the number of kiosks in the current year," S Sivakumar, chief executive of the international business division of ITC told Business Standard.

He added that this served as an information provider for the traders and provided transaction facilities for the planters. "Earlier, these were a broker’s job, which often led to conflicts of interests between traders and producers," he said.

The e-choupals provide a mechanism for direct trading, where buyers and sellers place their offers and when the prices do not match, it is negotiated. Forward auctions by a seller or reverse auctions by a buyer can also be conducted to increase or decrease the price.