CSR & Community

The Real Face of Our Coffee

Behind every pack is 30 years of work, land, and community. Meet the people who make Kynetra Coffee possible.

Farmer Stories

5 Faces Behind Every Cup

MK

Murugesan K.

3rd-Generation Estate Worker

Pollibetta, Coorg · 28 yrs

Trained 14 workers · 28 years on estate
"My grandfather planted these rows. I know every root, every slope. When a visitor asks how long it takes to learn coffee, I say — a lifetime, and you still don't know all of it."

Murugesan has worked the Kynetra Estate since 1997, following his father and grandfather before him. He oversees the harvesting schedule, reads soil and weather to decide cherry timing, and has trained 14 younger workers in the past decade.

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Selvi R.

Senior Coffee Picker & SHG Leader

Pollibetta, Coorg · 18 yrs

28-member SHG · Healthcare camps since 2019
"I raise my two children on what I earn here. Kynetra Coffee pays above minimum wage and gives us healthcare. I don't need to go to the city."

Selvi joined the estate 18 years ago as a coffee picker. Today she leads the 28-member women's self-help group (SHG) that manages fair-wage harvesting contracts and runs a small savings cooperative. She initiated the estate's on-site healthcare camp programme in 2019.

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Rajan A.

Estate Supervisor & QA Gate

Pollibetta, Coorg · 22 yrs

22 years QA · 6 lots rejected on principle
"Every morning I walk the rows before the coffee pickers arrive. If the cherries aren't right, we don't harvest that section. One wrong batch ruins the whole lot's grade."

Rajan has supervised estate operations for 22 years. He determines daily harvesting areas based on cherry ripeness, weather, and soil moisture. Every batch that leaves the processing unit carries his QA sign-off. He has turned down 6 full lots in the last 3 years for failing cup-test standards.

KD

Karpagam D.

Women's Cooperative Head

Pollibetta, Coorg · 15 yrs

28 women · 2% revenue to coop · Micro-lending
"We started with 8 women saving ₹50 a month. Now 28 of us manage a cooperative that funds school fees and medical care. That coffee cherishes us back."

Karpagam founded the Coorg estate's women's cooperative in 2010 with 8 members. The group now manages fair-wage harvesting contracts and runs a micro-lending programme for members' children's education. Kynetra Coffee channels 2% of estate revenue into the cooperative fund.

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Dharmaraj S.

Soil & Compost Specialist

Pollibetta, Coorg · 12 yrs

100% chemical-free since 2015 · 3-stage compost
"Spent coffee pulp and husks go back to the soil they came from. Nothing is wasted on this estate. The compost pile is the most important thing I manage."

Dharmaraj built the estate's zero-chemical composting programme from scratch in 2013. Spent coffee pulp, shade-tree cuttings, and kitchen scraps are composted in a 3-stage pit system he designed. The output replaces all chemical fertiliser on the estate. He runs quarterly soil-health audits and shares data with the harvesting team.

Sustainable Farming

5 Practices That Set Our Estate Apart

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Zero-Chemical Farming

No pesticides since 2015. All fertiliser comes from our own compost — spent coffee pulp, shade-tree cuttings, kitchen scraps. Verified quarterly by independent soil audit.

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Rainwater Harvesting

3 on-estate ponds collect monsoon runoff for year-round irrigation. Drip lines installed in 2021 cut water usage by 38%. No municipal water drawn since 2022.

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Women's Self-Help Fund

2% of estate revenue goes into the women's cooperative fund. 28 workers use it for micro-lending, school fees, and healthcare. No external donors — funded entirely from estate operations.

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On-Site Healthcare Camps

Quarterly health camps run at the Coorg estate with a visiting doctor and nurse from Madikeri Government Hospital. All workers and their families covered at no cost.

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Native Shade-Tree Canopy

Silver oak, grevillea, and jackfruit provide a continuous shade canopy protecting coffee plants from temperature extremes. 200+ trees added in the last 5 years. Zero deforestation since 1994.

The Coffee You Buy Changes Lives

Every purchase supports fair wages, chemical-free farming, and the women's cooperative at the Coorg estate.