Arshiya Bose, Founder, Black Baza Coffee Co.

Arshiya Bose, Founder, Black Baza Coffee.

Arshiya is the founder of a social and conservation enterprise called Black Baza Coffee based in Bangalore, India. Black Baza Coffee works with 650 smallholder coffee producers in the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot of India.

India has recently witnessed a massive shift in our beverage preferences. Many of us have forsaken our beloved tea and shifted to coffee. Our morning coffee rituals sound as romantic to our ears as one’s love for malts. This cultural shift has also led to the rise of many coffee producers in the country, making India the sixth largest coffee producer in the world.

But have you ever wondered how this fashionable drink is produced in our country? The Brand Called You brings you Arshiya Bose, Founder of Black Baza Coffee who takes us through the process of cultivating coffee in our country and tells us about the lives of coffee cultivators in India. 

Did you know that India is the 6th largest producer of coffee in the world with 83% of coffee producers who cultivate it on less than 5 acres of land? With not much land, these cultivators have very little access to a fair and transparent market. Arshiya helps 650 such smallholder coffee producers in the Western Ghats to provide them fair prices from their coffee all the while preventing the indigenous forests and species around the area. 

She talks to us about the arrival of coffee culture in India, “We see coffee as a culture instead of a drink.” She shares some very interesting information about caffeine and if it can cause addiction. Tune in and learn how Arshiya is helping secure livelihoods as well as strengthening biodiversity on coffee plantations in our country.

Arshiya is the founder of a social and conservation enterprise called Black Baza Coffee based in Bangalore, India. Black Baza Coffee works with 650 smallholder coffee producers in the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot of India to stabilise and secure livelihoods as well as strengthen biodiversity on coffee farms. 

Arshiya is passionate about participatory conservation approaches and design thinking. Arshiya holds a PhD in Geography from the University of Cambridge, UK. 

Arshiya is an Acumen Fellow, Kinship Conservation Fellow and National Geographic Explorer.