History of Bangladesh’s coffee industry

From coffee shrubs in the Chattogram Hill Tracts to espresso machines in Dhaka, two very different landscapes frame the same story. A nation historically defined by tea leaves is now, quietly and unevenly, building a coffee identity of its own. That story reaches back well beyond the cafés that have made coffee a familiar part of urban life.

Colonial roots and early beginnings

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Coffee’s presence in this land is older than most of us assume. Chattogram had coffee gardens in the nineteenth century. In an archival account published in The Business Standard, researcher Haroon Rashid traced references to coffee plants as far back as 1786, although their origins remained uncertain. An old map places one coffee garden near the present-day Chittagong Medical College and War Cemetery, a reminder of how thoroughly that earlier landscape has changed.

In 1843, a proposal for the Chittagong Joint Stock Coffee Company reached colonial authorities before a proposal for tea plantations that year. Local merchant Sheikh Obaidullah was also cultivating coffee, sending samples to Calcutta for assessment.

Coffee’s prospects eventually faded amid competing interest in tea, staffing shortages and disputes over land. Its later cultivation in the hills belongs to a separate chapter: farmers brought seeds and saplings from Mizoram, with coffee reportedly being grown in Lama, Bandarban, from the 1950s.

The experimentation

Decades later, the state’s interest grew. Government attention increased during the 1990s, followed by organised cultivation at the Khagrachhari Agricultural Research Station in 2001. Arabica and Robusta found a foothold in the hills, with Bandarban, Khagrachhari and Rangamati becoming the main producing districts. Some growers now plant coffee beneath mango trees, adding a crop within an existing orchard.

Since then, cultivation has expanded beyond the hills. In 2021, the government launched a Tk 211 crore research, development and extension project covering both cashew nuts and coffee. Sapling distribution and training helped growers move from scattered experiments towards more organised cultivation.

Coffee enters Bangladesh society

While farmers were experimenting with cultivation, many consumers found coffee through another door: the tin and the packet. 

Imported instant coffee offered a convenient introduction. Prothom Alo’s account of the market dates Nestlé’s formal coffee marketing in Bangladesh to 1998, distinct from the company’s wider commercial operations beginning in 1994.

Nescafé became a familiar name, while subsequent entrants widened the choice. PRAN-RFL entered the coffee business in 2013, and Abul Khair Group’s AMA Coffee later joined the instant segment. Small sachets offered an alternative to buying a jar, while premixes simplified preparation.

Vending machines and kiosks provided another route into daily routines. Nestlé’s offerings cover offices and food outlets, with kiosks aimed at universities, hospitals and transport hubs. Coffee could fit into a working day or a journey, as well as an evening out.

The café years

Coffee was also becoming a destination, something people went out for. Café Mango opened in Dhanmondi in November 2000, offering a place to linger over a drink and conversation. Coffee World followed with a Banani outlet in 2005, bringing an international chain into the developing market. The appeal extended beyond the beverage. In The Daily Star’s 2004 account of Café Mango, its founder described a space for reading, meeting people and spending time together. The social life around a cup was already taking shape.

Rick and Chris Hubbard visited Bangladesh in 2001 and opened North End Coffee Roasters in Shahjadpur in 2011. What started with small batches of freshly roasted coffee attracted expatriates and, increasingly, local customers.

The café was only part of the business. Roasting and supplying beans to other establishments helped North End’s influence travel beyond its own tables. Its sourcing of hill-grown coffee also linked the urban market with local producers.

Industry boom

The following years brought a wider market. Gloria Jean’s arrived in 2012, while Crimson Cup coffee reached Dhaka through Columbus Coffee Shop in 2015. Independent cafés and local roasters added their own approaches. East Bengal Coffee Roasters, for example, has introduced a Bandarban Blend.

Urbanisation, changing tastes, social media and the appeal of cafés as informal workplaces helped sustain demand. Students and young professionals brought coursework, meetings and laptops to café tables, making the surroundings part of what customers were paying for. Yet the opportunities came with expensive premises, imported inputs and a need for trained baristas.

The growth was visible in trade figures. Import data reported by Prothom Alo showed volumes rising from 264 tonnes in 2012 to 1,745 tonnes in 2022. That increase helps explain the interest from businesses, although imports alone cannot measure the value of café sales or the size of the speciality market.

• Coffee’s history in Bangladesh reaches back well before the café boom, with references to plants in eighteenth-century Chattogram
   
• Café Mango opened in 2000 and Coffee World in 2005, preceding North End’s arrival in 2011
   
• Local growers need processing skills and reliable buyers to turn coffee cultivation into a dependable source of income

The business opportunity

The real opportunity is in the space between supply and appetite. For local growers, reaching that market involves more than planting coffee shrubs. Beans need careful handling, consistent processing and buyers willing to return for the next harvest.

Women producers offer one example of how those connections can work. In a 2021 account, Helen Keller Intl described the experience of Zing Pian Bawm of Bandarban’s Happy Hill Para. After training supported by Helen Keller and USAID, she developed her coffee-growing skills and went on to train dozens of neighbouring producers.

By 2020, she had nearly tripled her earlier annual income, with coffee becoming an additional source of earnings. The programme also introduced processing equipment and partnered with North End to connect growers with a market for their beans.

That relationship matters because farmers face a wait of several years before their first harvest, alongside gaps in processing facilities and access to buyers. The Daily Star’s recent reporting also identified changing weather and uneven quality as continuing challenges.

Looking ahead

Bangladesh’s coffee future will depend on how these different parts grow together. Local cultivation offers farmers another source of income, while roasting, distribution and hospitality can create value around both local and imported beans. Equipment suppliers and the people who install, maintain and repair coffee machines also belong to this expanding business, alongside cafés and roasters.

For the grower in the hills and the barista in Dhaka, the connection is becoming more tangible. A nation raised on tea is now finding room for a second cup.