Foundational Partner

Bhadra

Southwestern India is one of the oldest coffee producing regions in the world. According to the popular story, coffee came to India in the late 1600’s when a traveling Sufi pilgrim named Baba Budan smuggled seven seeds out of Yemen. Whether concealed in his beard, or hidden on his chest as some accounts claim, Baba Budan succeeded in getting his precious seeds back home to Chikmagalur, in the Western Ghat mountains of India. Coffee has thrived there ever since, and the Bababudangiri hills bear the name of India’s legendary coffee saint to this day.

Passenger's newest Foundational Partnership is named after the Bhadra Tiger Reserve, a 492 square kilometer wildlife sanctuary in Karnataka state. The four coffee estates that Passenger purchased coffee from in year one of the Bhadra partnership are all located near the borders of the Bhadra Reserve. And geographic proximity is not the only reason that this name seemed apt. All of the coffee producers that we are partnering with in India are notable for their commitment to protecting ecological biodiversity and using environmentally friendly agricultural methods. In fact, for some of these inspiring farmers, a primary benefit of growing coffee in the Chikmagalur region is the preservation of semi-forested “buffer zones” between wildlife sanctuaries and land developers.