Karnataka J. Agric. Sci.

, 22(4) (824-827) : 2009

Consumption pattern of coffee and tea in Karnataka

T. C. VARUN, M. G. KERUTAGI, L. B. KUNNAL , H. BASAVARAJA, K.V. ASHALATHA AND M.T. DODAMANI Department of Agricultural Economics College of Agriculture, University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad - 580 005, Karnataka, India. Email: mgkerutagi@yahoo.com (Received : October, 2008)
Abstract : The consumption pattern of coffee and tea was studied in the four districts of Karnataka using the primary data from 240 sample households. The data was analyzed using tabular analysis and chi-square test was used to test the hypotheses. The results revealed that tea was the highest consumed among all the beverages among the sample respondents in both the northern and southern regions of Karnataka. The respondents from the 240 households were categorized into three age groups, namely, younger age group (below 35 years of age), middle age group (between 35 and 50 years of age) and old age group (above 50 years of age). Respondents of the young and old age group drank their coffee and/or tea twice in a day, while the respondents of the urban area belonging to the middle age group had their beverage thrice in a day, but those in the rural had it twice in a day. It was the homes of the individuals where the beverage was mostly consumed across all the age groups and in both urban and rural areas. The quantity of coffee and/or tea consumed by the young and old age group respondents was in the range of 100 to 250 ml, while the respondents belonging to the middle age group consumed about 250 to 500 ml of the beverage in a day. Key words: Distribution, consumption pattern, coffee, tea

Introduction Coffee and tea are drunk in most countries, but typically one predominates. The World's total production of coffee is around 6 million tons and is leaded by Brazil which has more than 30 percent share in the World's total production. Vietnam and Columbia follow Brazil regarding production respectively. The major consuming and importing countries of coffee are United States, Canada, Japan and European countries like Germany, Italy, United Kingdom, Poland and Spain. Annual tea consumption varies from country to country, with the highest consumption of 2.3 kg per capita in UK. World consumption is approximately 0.56 kg per capita. Green (Anon., 2007) tea is the primary form consumed in China, Japan and some Middle Eastern countries. As per the Tea Board of India estimates, tea was consumed domestically to the tune of 511 m kgs during 1991, and during 2005, it was estimated to be consumed to the tune of 757 m kgs. The number of cups consumed daily per drinker of coffee across India is 2.1 cups, broadly in line with the 2 cups consumed per drinker of tea (Anon., 2007). The studies by zone and age show that coffee consumption increases significantly in winter months in both the north and the east across all ages groups. Northern India is a key target area for the promotion of coffee. The region has a vast population but per capita consumption of coffee is only around 10 grams as opposed to an average of 54 grams in the rest of the country. This paper studies the consumption pattern of coffee and tea in Karnataka.

Material and methods To study the consumer pattern towards consumption of coffee and tea, a multi stage sampling technique was adopted. In the initial stage, north and south districts of Karnataka were chosen for the study. The study was taken up during the agricultural year 2007. Bangalore and Kodagu were selected from the south and Dharwad as well as Belguam districts were selected from the north, to study the difference in Karnataka, with respect to coffee and tea consumption. In the next stage, the district headquarters and two villages were selected from each district. Following this, thirty sample households were selected randomly from the district headquarters and were considered as samples from the urban region; and from the two villages fifteen sample households were selected at random and were considered as samples from the rural areas. Totally, from each district sixty samples were selected, accounting to 240 sample households from where information regarding their consumption pattern of coffee and tea was obtained using a well structured and pre-tested schedule. From these 240 sample households, information on 932 respondents was obtained. Results and discussion Tea was the highest consumed beverage among all the beverages, when all the family members in the sample households were considered, in both the regions of Karnataka, with 57.30 and 51.50 per cent of the people consuming tea in the northern and southern regions respectively (Table 1). In the north zone, the people consumed more tea than the south. The reasons are the cost of the tea, its availability and food consumption pattern. These findings are in conformity with the findings of

*Part of M. Sc. (Agri.) thesis submitted by the senior author to the University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad - 580 005, India.
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Karnataka J. Agric. Sci., 22 (4) : 2009 Table 1. Distribution of beverage consumers based on region
and nativity Sl No.Beverages 1. Tea 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Coffee Horlicks/Boost Plain milk Coffee and Tea Coffee and Boost Tea and Ragi malt Tea and Boost Total 2 value North 260 (57.30) 102 (22.50) 16 (3.50) 27 (5.90) 6 (1.30) 31 (6.80) 12 (2.60) (2.10) South 246 (51.50) 91 (19.00) 30 (6.30) 10 (2.10) 58 (12.10) 27 (5.60) 6 (1.30) 10 (2.20) Urban 226 (50.30) 91 (20.30) 30 (6.70) 6 (1.30) 53 (11.80) 27 (6.00) 6 (1.30) 10 449 483 (100.00) (100.00) 66.22** Rural 280 (58.00) 102 (21.10) 16 (3.30) 31 (6.40) 11 (2.30) 31 (6.40) 12 (2.50)

Radhakrishnan (2004) and Mahajanshetty et al. (2006). In the south too, more than fifty per cent of the respondents consume tea. Of the total respondents, 22.50 per cent of them in the north had coffee. Going by the nativity of the respondents, 226 (50.30%) and 280 (58.00%) of them drank tea. Tea is usually cheaper in price when compared to coffee and hence this could be one of the main reasons behind many people going in for tea. Coffee, on the other hand was consumed by 91 (20.30%) respondents in the urban and 102 (21.10%) respondents in the rural areas. There were more number of people in the rural areas consuming coffee, this can be attributed to the fact that the Kodagu region where coffee is one of the main agricultural crop, may be the people there went for consuming only coffee as it could be directly obtained from their own plantations. More number of respondents in the urban areas drank both coffee and tea. This may be due the fact that, in urban areas, almost all the people go to work to make a living and at their work places they may be served with any one of the beverage, but they might prefer drinking the other at homes. The chi-square value also stood highly significant at 66.23, indicating that there was a significant difference in the consumption of most of the mentioned beverages in the urban and rural areas. Similar observations were also evidenced by Jabir Ali (2006) who conducted a study on structural changes in consumption and nutrition of livestock products in India.

454 478 (100.00) (100.00) 409.93**

Note : Figure in parentheses indicates percentage to total '**' : Significant at 1 per cent level of significance

Table 2. Comparison between age group and frequency of coffee and tea consumption Younger age group Middle age group Older age group Urban Rural Urban Rural Urban Rural Coffee Once per day 4 (9.50) Twice per day 22 (52.40) 19 (59.40) 7 (21.90) 27 (58.70) 3 (17.60) 15 (62.50) Thrice per day 11 (26.20) 9 (28.10) 16 (50.00) 14 (30.40) 7 (41.20) 7 (29.20) Four times a day 4 (9.50) 3 (9.40) 6 (18.80) 2 (4.30) 5 (29.40) 2 (8.30) Five times a day 1 (2.40) 3 (9.40) 2 (4.30) 2 (11.80) Six times a day 1 (3.10) 1 (2.20) Total 42 (100.00) 32 (100.00) 32 (100.00) 46 (100.00) 17 (100.00) 24 (100.00) Tea Once per day 11 (9.10) 8 (5.40) 1 (1.40) 2 (2.20) 2 (2.20) Twice per day 70 (62.80) 100 (71.10) 19 (27.50) 45 (50.00) 15 (41.70) 21 (51.20) Thrice per day 21 (17.10) 29 (19.50) 32 (46.40) 27 (30.00) 12 (33.30) 10 (24.40) Four times a day 10 (8.30) 6 (4.00) 12 (17.40) 13 (14.40) 7 (19.40) 5 (12.20) Five times a day 3 (2.50) 3 (4.30) 3 (3.30) 3 (7.30) Six times a day 2 (2.90) 2 (5.60) Total 121 (100.00) 149 (100.00) 69 (100.00) 90 (100.00) 36 (100.00) 41 (100.00) Coffee and tea together Once per day 1 (3.40) 1 (7.70) Twice per day 18 (62.10) 5 (71.40) 6 (46.20) 2 (50.00) 5 (45.50) Thrice per day 8 (27.60) 1 (14.30) 2 (50.00) 1 (9.10) Four times a day 2 (6.90) 1 (14.30) 4 (30.80) 3 (27.30) Five times a day 2 (15.40) 1 (9.10) Six times a day 1 (9.10) Total 29 (100.00) 7 (100.00) 13 (100.00) 4 (100.00) 11 (100.00) Note : Figure in parentheses indicate percentage to their respective columns 825

Total Urban 4 (4.40) 32 (35.20) 34 (37.40) 15 (16.50) 6 (6.60) Rural

61 (59.80) 30 (29.40) 7 (6.90) 2 (2.00) 2 (2.00) 91 (100.00) 102 (100.00) 12 (5.30) 12 (4.30) 110 (48.70) 172 (61.40) 65 (28.80) 66 (23.60) 29 (12.80) 24 (8.60) 6 (2.70) 6 (2.10) 4 (1.80) 226 (100.00) 280 (100.00) 2 (3.80) 29 (54.70) 7 (63.60) 9 (17.00) 3 (27.30) 9 (17.00) 1 (9.10) 3 (5.70) 1 (1.90) 53 (100.00) 11 (100.00)

Consumption pattern ................

Table 3. Comparison between age group and place of coffee and tea consumption
Young age group Urban Rural Coffee Home Home and office Home and hotel Home, office & hotel Total Tea Home Home and office Home and hotel Home, office & hotel Total Coffee & tea together Home Home and office Home and hotel Home, office & hotel Total 32 (76.20) 6 (14.30) 1 (2.40) 3 (7.10) 42 (100.00) 105 (86.80) 9 (7.40) 3 (2.50) 4 (3.30) 121(100.00) 19 (65.50) 5 (17.20) 5 (17.20) 29 (100.00) 32 (100.00) 32 (100.00) 141 (94.60) 5 (3.40) 3 (2.00) 149(100.00) 6 (85.70) 1 (14.30) 7 (100.00) Middle age group Urban Rural 25 (78.10) 6 (18.80) 1 (3.10) 32 (100.00) 46 (66.7) 13 (18.8) 1 (1.4) 9 (13.00) 69 (100.00) 7 (53.8) 5 (38.5) 1 (9.1) 13 (100.00) 44 (95.70) 2 (4.30) 46 (100.00) 82 (91.10) 5 (5.60) 3 (3.30) 90 (100.00) 2 (50.00) 1 (25.00) 1 (25.00) 4 (100.00) Old age group Urban Rural 16 (94.10) 1 (5.90) 17 (100.00) 28 (77.80) 5 (13.90) 3 (8.30) 36 (100.00) 8 (72.70) 2 (18.20) 1 (9.10) 11 (100.00) 23 (95.80) 1 (4.20) 24 (100.00) 35 (85.40) 1 (2.40) 5 (12.20) 41 (100.00) Total Urban 73 (80.20) 13 (14.30) 1 (1.10) 4 (4.40) 91 (100.00) 179 (79.20) 27 (11.90) 4 (1.80) 16 (7.10) 226(100.00) 34 (64.20) 12 (22.60) 7 (13.20) 53 (100.00) Rural 99 (97.10) 1 (1.00) 2 (2.00) 102(100.00) 258 (92.10) 11 (3.90) 11 (3.90) 280(100.00) 8 (72.70) 2 (18.20) 1 (9.10) 11 (100.00)

Note : Figure in parentheses indicates percentage to their respective columns.

The respondents from the 240 sample households were categorized into three age groups, namely, younger (below 35 years of age), middle (35 to 50 years) and older age (above 50 years) group. Of the total number of respondents, 42 in the urban and 32 respondents in the rural belonging to the younger age group consumed coffee (Table 2). Most of them had their coffee only twice in a day, mostly because the respondents were students who usually consumed the beverage two times in a day. In the middle age category, the urban respondents drank their beverage thrice in a day, when compared with those in the rural who drank only twice per day, this could be because in the urban most of the people belonging to the middle age category are office workers and they might be served with either coffee or tea in their office premises or they might hang out with their colleagues during their free time over a cup of coffee. In the older age group, more number of people from the sample households drank coffee twice in a day. The reason here could be that, by the time the people enter the old age, they are bound to develop many ailments like diabetics, BP, etc., hence they restrict their coffee consumption to minimal, in order to keep a check on their ailments. The percentage respondents who drank their tea twice in a day were 48.70 per cent in the urban and 61.40 per cent in the rural. Most of the respondents belonging to younger age group consumed tea twice in a day. Among the middle age respondents, 46.40 per cent in the urban areas had tea three times in a day, while in the rural; about fifty per cent of them consumed tea two times in a day. Among the old age category too, most of the respondents in the urban (51.20%) as well as the rural (48.70%) consumed tea twice in a day. The respondents drinking both coffee and tea were basically employed and since their employees

may provide them with many beverage options, they tend to consume both. Also, in few households, one person may prefer drinking coffee and the other tea, so they might end up consuming both as time proceeds. It was the homes of individuals, where the beverage was mostly consumed across all the age groups and in both urban and rural areas (Table 3). This could be due to the fact that, beverages are one of the food items which is consumed early in the morning; and in the evening to relax one self after a busy day out. The respondents belonging to young age group consumed around 100 to 250 ml of coffee in a day (Table 4). This is due to the fact that their frequency of consumption was low among this age group. The middle age group respondents consumed coffee to the tune of 250 to 500 ml in a day, mainly because their frequency of consumption was more as they consumed at both their homes and office. Among the older age group, more number of respondents in the urban areas consumed 250 to 500 ml of coffee in a day, while in the rural areas majority of the respondents consumed 100 to 250 ml of coffee in a day. The higher quantity of coffee consumption by urban people than the rural may be due to the better awareness for the urban people regarding the health benefits by consumption of coffee. These results are in line with the results of Victor Maridakis (2006) and Jyon Choi (2007). In the urban areas, about 49.10 per cent of the respondents consumed tea to the range of about 100 ml in a day

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Karnataka J. Agric. Sci., 22 (4) : 2009

Table 4. Comparison between age group and quantity of coffee and tea consumed during each day Parameters Coffee 0-100 ml 100-250 ml 250-500 ml 500-1000 ml Total Tea 0-100 ml 100-250 ml 250-500 ml 500-1000 ml Total 0-100 ml 100-250 ml 250-500 ml 500-1000 ml Total Coffee & tea together 13 (44.80) 10 (34.50) 5 (17.20) 1 (3.40) 29 (100.00) 4 (57.10) 1 (14.30) 2 (28.60) 7 (100.00) 3 (23.10) 8 (61.50) 2 (15.40) 13 (100.00) 1 (25.00) 3 (75.00) 4 (100.00) 4 (36.40) 2 (18.20) 3 (27.30) 2 (18.20) 11 (100.00) 20 (37.70) 20 (37.70) 10 (18.90) 3 (5.70) 53 (100.00) 5 (45.50) 4 (36.40) 2 (18.20) 11 (100.00) 82 (67.80) 36 (29.80) 3 (2.50) 121 (100.00) 97 (65.10) 49 (32.90) 3 (2.00) 149 (100.00) 19 (27.50) 45 (65.20) 5 (7.20) 69 (100.00) 42 (46.70) 45 (50.00) 3 (3.30) 10 (27.00) 23 (63.90) 3 (8.30) 20 (48.80) 20 (48.80) 1 (2.40) 111 (49.10) 104 (46.00) 11 (4.90) 159 (56.80) 114 (40.70) 7 (2.50) 9 (21.40) 22 (52.40) 11 (26.20) 42 (100.00) 8 (25.00) 15 (46.90) 9 (28.10) 32 (100.00) 2 (6.30) 8 (25.00) 22 (68.80) 32 (100.00) 5 (10.90) 24 (52.20) 17 (37.00) 6 (35.30) 10 (58.80) 1 (5.90) 5 (20.80) 16 (66.70) 3 (12.50) 11 (12.10) 36 (39.60) 43 (47.30) 1 (1.10) 18 (17.60) 55 (53.90) 29 (28.40) Younger age group Urban Rural Middle age group Urban Rural Older age group Urban Rural Urban Total Rural

46 (100.00) 17 (100.00)

24 (100.00) 91 (100.00) 102 (100.00)

90 (100.00) 36 (100.00)

41 (100.00) 226 (100.00) 280 (100.00)

Note: Figure in parentheses indicates percentage to their respective columns. The measurements are approximate values

and in the rural their percentage stood at 56.80. Another 46.00 per cent of the urban respondents drank tea in the range of 100 to 250 ml in a day; while in the rural area it was 40.70 per cent who consumed tea to the tune of 100 to 250 ml in a day. This was mainly because the quantity of tea consumed during each serving was low. Among those who consumed both coffee as well as tea, 37.70 per cent in the urban and 45.50 per cent in the rural drank up to 100 ml of it in a day.
References Anonymous, 2007, Asian age, Daily 15th May 2007. Anonymous, 2007, The Times of India, Daily 24th January 2007. Hyon Choi, 2007, The Economic Times, Daily 18th January 2007. Jabir Ali, 2006, Structural changes in consumption and nutrition of livestock products in India. Implication for Food Security. Indian J. Agric. Econ., 6: 374.

Tea was consumed by more than fifty per cent of the respondents in both the northern and southern regions of Karnataka, while coffee was consumed by only twenty per cent of the respondents in both the regions. Hence, there is ample scope for coffee market in the state. Development of coffee and tea chains and proper market strategy must be employed to encourage out of home consumption.

Mahajanshetty, S. B., Ramappa, K. B. and Basavaraj, A. H., 2006, Milk and milk products: A study of consumption pattern and consumer preference in Hubli-Dharwad twin cities of Karnataka. Indian J. Agric. Mktg., 36: 17-21. Radhakrishnan, S., 2004, Coffee consumption in India - Perspectives and prospects. Indian Coffee, April: 27-35. Victor Haridakis, 2007, Vijaya Times, Daily 17th January 2007.

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