KATHMANDU Selling coffee hasn’t always been simple.
The nation in the Himalayas is a significant producer and consumer of tea. People don’t inquire how you’re doing when they greet each other in the morning. “Have you had your tea?” they ask.
Suggested Videos
As ubiquitous in Nepali homes, meetings, and social gatherings as rice, tea is typically served as a sweet, milky beverage in a steaming hot glass tumbler.
However, as hip cafés appear on street corners in cities and towns all over the nation, more and more Nepalis are becoming receptive to coffee.
In the 1990s, Nepalis began consuming coffee.
Many people consider one cafe in Kathmandu, the capital, to be the first.
Established by Gagan Pradhan as a single cafe in an alley, Himalayan Java has expanded to become a nationwide brand with 84 outlets. Although multinational brands like Starbucks aren’t yet available in Nepal, Pradhan estimates that there are about 7,000 cafes in the nation.
Although there are many tea shops across the country, Pradhan claimed that their setup is still somewhat antiquated. When it comes to coffee shops, I believe that investors and individuals like us take everything more seriously, including the lighting, setup, furniture, and location, in addition to the machines.
According to Pradhan, a typical coffee menu consists of ten to fifteen hot beverages and roughly ten to fifteen cold beverages, while tea shops often just offer black tea or tea with milk.
According to Pradhan, it’s a lucrative company since opening a cafe requires very little initial capital, they’re clean and easy enough for a single person or family to operate, and clients are prepared to spend more for coffee.
Coffee farms have recently joined a number of the tea plantations in the east Nepalese mountains, which are well-known for its tea.
Coffee is costly, but it’s a way of life.
Nepal belongs to a group. In Asia’s historically tea-drinking nations, coffee consumption has skyrocketed as members of the expanding middle classes embrace global trends and seek out new flavors.
In Nepal, coffee is a high-end beverage. At Himalayan Java, it costs roughly $2, which is sufficient to purchase five cups of tea or a dinner at a neighborhood cafe in Kathmandu. Even still, cafes are crowded with officers on breaks and students searching for study spots.
According to Deep Singh Bandari, a social worker who frequently visits coffee shops, the idea of drinking coffee in Nepal was initially sparked by people who believed it would improve their quality of life. However, after tasting coffee, many people simply liked it and kept drinking it.
Coffee is also beginning to be produced in Nepal.
Although the majority of Nepal’s coffee is imported, coffee plantations are starting to appear in the nation’s well-known eastern tea-growing regions.
In fiscal year 2021-22, the most current for which data is available, approximately 400 tons of coffee were produced, according to Nepal’s National Tea and Coffee Development Board. Compared to the 26,000 tons of tea produced that year, that is a decrease in the percolator; yet, the board anticipates substantial development.
The number of coffee drinkers in Nepal is increasing daily, and both young and old simply adore the beverage. Pradhan predicted that this trend will only continue to expand.
