Suhas Dwarakanath, India
BENKI
Please tell us a little about yourself:
I come from a very orthodox hindu family from a small village called TARIKERE in south of India who thinks making coffee cannot be a serious profession and to a certain extent does not demand respect in social circles. With help of money from my Grand dad I travelled other the Middle East in 2011 and got a job there and studied coffee and finished my SCA diploma and got my AST license. During this time I judged competitions in UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Lebanon and India [latte art, barista, Ibrik] and then came back home in 2017 and started BENKI in dads garage and now: I own BENKI ESTATE - a small coffee farm in south of India that exclusively grows Liberica and Cacao which I bought in 2022. BENKI COFFEE - speciality coffee shop and micro roastery based in Delhi and Bangalore. BENKI BREWING TOOLS - a speciality coffee equipment company that manufacturers and represents 54 international equipment brands in India. SPECIALITY COFFEE ACADEMY OF INDIA - SCA premier campus based in 3 cities in India. One at the origin in Chikmagalur, Karnataka, India. I organise the INDIAN AEROPRESS CHAMPIONSHIP every year. We became world's biggest in 2023. I decided to compete because I wanted to prove to myself at 37 that I still have it in me. I wanted my son to be with me on stage and I wanted him to experience how winning feels like. Also because the business that I was building was taking me away from coffee, roasting, cupping etc as I was spending more and more time behind laptops and managing people than making coffee which is what I want to be doing.
What are you excited to do while you are in Milan?
Meet with the awesome people from all over the world and exchange ideas and network with planters.
What are your interests outside of coffee?
MOTORCYCLES, TECHNOLOGY, SPIRITUALITY.
Is there anyone you’d like to thank?
My mom, wife and 2 year old son on whom I was the toughest during my prep and competition time. They were the most ignored during this time and still had a smile on their face when the smallest of things used to irritate me as I had too much going on with the business and competition.
