Wayanad

Wayanad is Kerala’s coffee country and India’s robusta stronghold. On the plateau and forested hills of the Western Ghats, where Kerala meets Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, tens of thousands of smallholders grow robusta under pepper vines and banana plants. It grows about a sixth of India’s coffee, almost all of Kerala’s, and since 2019 Wayanad Robusta has been a protected name.

The short version

• Robusta: effectively all of Wayanad’s coffee.
• 61,950 tonnes in 2023-24, 17% of India’s crop.
• About 60,000 holdings, nearly all small.
• Full-bodied, intense aroma, a hint of chocolate.
• Harvest about December–February.
• Coffee since 1825.

What does Wayanad coffee taste like?

The Coffee Board’s GI application describes Wayanad robustas as soft to neutral in the cup, full-bodied, with a very intense aroma and a hint of chocolate. They are best for blending with arabica in espresso, it says, where they add richness and longevity to the crema without spoiling the flavour.

Where and how high is it grown?

In Wayanad district, on the eastern side of Kerala, bordered by Kodagu and Mysore in Karnataka and the Nilgiris in Tamil Nadu, the GI application says. Coffee covers much of the district, around Meppady, Poothadi, Kaniambetta, Noolpuzha, Ambalavayal, Thavinhal, Panamaram and Thirunelly. The sources disagree on the altitude:

	Figure	Source
Altitude	600–900 m	Coffee Board region profile; GI application’s region panel
Altitude	700–2,100 m	GI application’s specification
Rainfall	1,100–1,200 mm	Coffee Board
Varieties	Peridenia, S.274, CxR	Coffee Board

Smallholders grow coffee mixed with pepper, arecanut and banana, which also give it shade, the application says, under old rosewood, wild jack and coral trees, though silver oak has replaced them on many farms.

How much coffee does it grow?

The Coffee Board’s 2023-24 figures:

	Figure
Planted area	67,738 ha, all robusta
Bearing area	67,459 ha
Production	61,950 t
Holdings	59,972, of which 59,821 under 10 ha

That is 17.2% of India’s coffee. The GI application puts robusta at more than 95% of Wayanad’s coffee and Wayanad at about 90% of Kerala’s. It gives yields of about 1,400 kg a hectare on rain-fed farms and 2,500 with irrigation.

When is it harvested?

From about December, finishing by the end of January or February, according to the GI application, which gives both dates. Robusta is generally ready two months later than arabica, it says. The weather has been unsettled: in 2026 Wayanad had 235% more rain than normal in January and February, then 48% less than normal from March to mid-April, USDA reports.

A short history

• 1825: Captain Bevan, commanding the garrison at Manantoddy (Mananthavady), planted coffee from the East India Company’s experimental garden at Anjarakandy, near Tellicherry. It did so well that the Collector of Malabar handed out seeds to local farmers.
• 1840: the spread of coffee in Wayanad began; by 1865 there were 200 estates on 14,613 acres, according to Francis Thurber’s From Plantation to Cup, quoted in the application.
• 1869: Wayanad had 60,000 of South India’s 120,000 acres of coffee.
• Late 19th century: robusta arrived, and, standing up better to pests and disease, gradually replaced arabica.

Source: Wayanad Robusta GI application.

Wayanad and other Indian origins

• Coffee in India: the whole country, its harvest and its history.
• Coorg (Kodagu): Wayanad’s neighbour, and India’s biggest coffee district.
• Chukku kaapi: Kerala’s dry ginger coffee.