HP India Sales Private Limited signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Atal Incubation Centre of Coffee Board on 22 May 2024 to foster innovation and growth among startups. This strategic partnership aims to provide startups with digital printing and packaging solutions, equipping them with the tools and knowledge needed to thrive in a competitive market.

The Atal Incubation Centre of Coffee Board (AIC CCRI CED) Bangalore is a startup incubation center started in collaboration with the government of India’s Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) and the Central Coffee Research Institute (CCRI) of the CoffeeBoard. Its main aim is to support startups in the areas of coffee, spices, agritech, and allied sectors.

The collaboration

Under this collaboration, HP will offer comprehensive support to such startups, including insights into industry trends, best practices, and the latest advancements in printing and packaging technologies. HP says the initiative underscores its commitment to empowering emerging businesses and driving technological innovation in the industry.

The MoU was formally signed by Praveen HJ, CEO of AIC-CCRI-CED, Coffee Board, and Appadurai, country manager of Indigo & Inkjet Solutions, HP in the presence of key figures such as Naipal Singh, business development manager at HP India and others.

Praveen HJ expressed his optimism about the new partnership, "We are excited to collaborate with HP India. This partnership will provide invaluable resources and expertise in digital printing and packaging, enabling our startups to enhance their operational efficiency and market reach. Together, we are committed to fostering an environment of innovation and growth, and we look forward to seeing the transformative impact this collaboration will have on the startup community."

Appadurai emphasized the transformative impact of the partnership, "This collaboration with the Atal Incubation Centre of Coffee Board offers startups a unique opportunity to access high-quality packaging solutions without the constraints of minimum order quantities. By utilizing our advanced digital printing technologies, startups can benefit from faster time to market, variable data printing, and the elimination of unwanted inventory wastage. Additionally, there are no plate or cylinder costs, allowing startups to avoid blocking their working capital. This means they can print as much as they need and when they need it, thereby optimizing resources and focusing on growth and innovation."

HP India and AIC CCRI CED held a joint online press conference on 24 June 2024 to talk about the partnership that intends to use the power of collaboration in driving innovation and economic growth of coffee startups across the country.

Praveen HJ said the incubation center aims to support 100 startups in the first five years. It has already registered 50 startups, some of which have already graduated from the program.

Appadurai said in the virtual press conference, “We believe digital printing and packaging solutions are suited to the specific needs of startup companies. From building brand perception and identity to enabling rapid response to change through launching new variants and revising products, HP provides digital printing and packaging solutions to cash-constrained startups that can't afford to lock money in inventory and minimum order quantities.”

Every time HP creates a brand strategy for a startup, it's a win-win for everybody who is involved, including the brand, the print service provider (PSP), the designer, and even the end consumer, Appadurai said, adding working with the Atal Centre will help HP to reach out to many more startups.

Almost 25-76% of products or brands sell because of how they are packaged, Appadurai said, adding AI-based design will assist startups in enhancing their packaging game. HP's PSP's Art Next and Trigon Digital Solutions are providing AI-based design to brands and startups to enhance shelf appeal.

Innovative coffee packaging examples

Appadurai highlighted the examples of several coffee brand campaigns that HP has helped with printing and packaging solutions. He presented the case of the Brazilian daily Estado de São Paulo, which partnered with coffee company Café Pelé to demonstrate the freshness of its products, which Packaging South Asia had earlier covered. Five thousand bags of Café Pelé's coffee were wrapped in front-page facsimiles of the daily for circulation along with the newspaper. The campaign attempted to displace the notion that fresh coffee is available only in cafes.

Brazilian newspaper Estado de São Paulo partnered with coffee company Café Pelé to demonstrate the freshness of its products

This unique hyper localization campaign used an HP Indigo 20000 digital press to produce the coffee packaging and is claimed to have gained immense traction on social media with a reported 400% jump in coffee sales, and more than a million readers interacting with the campaign more than once.

Nescafe Mexico printed 300 top New Year’s resolutions among millennials on coffee jar labels using HP Indigo, which resulted in more than 20,000 interactions with the brand

Appadurai discussed the example of Nescafe Mexico printing 300 top New Year's resolutions among millennials on coffee jar labels using HP Indigo, which resulted in more than 20,000 interactions with the brand. The consumers could then track the progress of the resolutions online.

Café Franqueza used an HP Indigo 20000 digital press to create a strong brand image and identity with personalized coffee bags, which featured the story of a farmer who had cultivated the coffee and maps showcasing where the coffee is
grown

Mexico's Café Franqueza, along with the non-profit organization Ercus Foundation, assisted thousands of coffee growers in Mexico through its unique project, Appadurai highlighted. Café Franqueza used an HP Indigo 20000 digital press to create a strong brand image and identity with personalized coffee bags, which featured the story of a farmer who had cultivated the coffee and maps showcasing where the coffee is grown. The campaign focused on three different SKUs and 5,000 pouches for each design, which was a big hit with customers. The coffee farmers refused to sell their coffee to any other brand as Café Franqueza was printing their stories on the back of the coffee's flexible packaging pouches available in the biggest supermarkets in New York and London. The campaign became a tremendous community development project.

“We look forward to having at least 5-10 good brands emerge from the Atal Incubation Centre of Coffee Board in the next year,” Praveen HJ said, adding they plan to create a small experience center with a DIY kiosk, where startups can design their packaging and connect with authorized vendors from the HP team to get their packaging and printing services done.

Both HP and the Atal Incubation Centre of Coffee Board aim to create a nurturing environment that supports the development of ideas and solutions, ultimately contributing to the advancement of the coffee industry.

The AIM is the government of India’s flagship initiative to create and promote a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship in India. Its objective is to develop new programs and policies for fostering innovation in different sectors of the economy, provide platforms and collaboration opportunities for different stakeholders, and create an umbrella structure to oversee the innovation & entrepreneurship ecosystem of the country, the AIM website states.

The Central Coffee Research Institute (CCRI) is an organization in the frontier areas of modern coffee research, which celebrated 75 years of its existence in the year 2000. CCRI is recognized as an institute engaged in scientific research of coffee by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India. CCRI is engaged in intensive and advanced coffee research in the disciplines of coffee plant breeding and genetics, coffee agronomy, soil science and agricultural chemistry, plant physiology, plant pathology, entomology, post-harvest technology, coffee biotechnology and coffee quality.