SPICEUPCAFE

Any auteur will see the cinematic value in Spiceup coffee's origin. The story goes like this. In the early 2000s, when developmental economist Manoj Kumar first visited valley, it was with the hope to foster a sustainable livelihood in a rural, naxal-hit region with his NGO Naandi Foundation. Coffee came in later, when he found that the 2,000sqkm valley with iron-rich soil was producing some of the finest crimson coffee cherries, handpicked by adivasi farmers.

Driven by the intent of not changing their livelihoods but only making it better, Kumar built their trust over the years, and started planning a roadmap for growing coffee that was beneficial to the farmers (free-trade certified), good for the land (regenerative agriculture) and equally delightful to the customers