India Biccode - Producer Info

This coffee comes from the Appadurai family of Sangameshwar Coffee Estates. Their influence reaches well beyond their own farm and helps shape specialty coffee across India.

Biccode Estate is a 150-hectare coffee and pepper estate near Belur, in Hassan. Its story goes back to Clement Lake, an Englishman who built the estate’s bungalow in 1906 and lived there with his wife and son until 1935. The farm sits at the start of Karnataka’s coffee belt and gets about 60 inches of rain a year. Today the Appadurai family grows coffee here under a diverse canopy of shade trees, alongside areca palms and pepper vines, with plenty of avocados too. Every cherry is hand-picked over several passes, so only the ripe fruit makes it in. In 2023, the family restored the original bungalow and opened it as a heritage homestay, Biccode Woodside Heritage, so visitors can stay on the estate and experience it first hand.

Hamsini Appadurai leads marketing and sales and is President of the Specialty Coffee Association of India. She has 15 years in coffee, a Master’s in Business and Finance, and Q Processing Professional credentials in both Arabica and Robusta. Her work centres on sustainable practices that reduce environmental impact while raising quality.

Shriya Appadurai leads business development. After a career in investment banking, she now builds the estate’s partnerships with buyers in India and around the world.

Mr. Appadurai, Managing Director, has spent 28 years as a coffee planter. He is a founding member of the Specialty Coffee Association of India and served as its Secretary from 2019 to 2024. He is a past Chairman of the Karnataka Planters Association and now chairs the India Coffee Trade Association.

Together they look after everything in the field: nursing seedlings, managing irrigation, analyzing soil, and planning shade. Their focus is on building a regenerative ecosystem.