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POLLIBETTA, India, Wednesday (AFP) - India's coffee growers are finally seeking to market their own brands abroad after 50 years of having their beans bought up in the international market and blended into anonymity.

India accounts for just three percent of the global coffee trade and, until now, Indian coffee has been bought by foreign traders who blend it with beans from other countries -- losing any "made in India" tag in the process.

The government's Coffee Board and the United Planters' Association of Southern India (UPASI) will hold the first India International Coffee Festival next month to bring together importers, brokers and traders to expose them to the country's coffde traditions.

"For the first time in history we are attempting to market our coffee," Anil Kumar Bhandari, chairman of UPASI and convenor of the festival told AFP in the coffee heartland of Coorg, where Pollibetta town is situated.

"We are giving a mystique to Indian coffee. This is the first single step in a long journey," Bhandari said of the two-day festival starting on February 15 in Bangalore, the capital of Karnataka state.

The festival will debate the future path Indian growers must take to grab a bigger share of the international market and also current trends in retailing.

"We have excellent quality coffee produced in the country with different flavours. Indian coffee has an uniqueness of its own. The geography, soil and being the only one to be grown under shade gives it a unique flavour," Bhandari said.

"None of these qualities are being recognised by people outside. They have to be shown now and introduced to Indian coffee." 

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