Nepal, Feb. 7 -- Kathmandu Valley alone now has over 700 cafes serving mugs made from freshly ground beans. 'Americano double shot', 'Cappuccino' and 'Mocha' have entered the Nepali language.

It has also become a cash crop for thousands of farmers with near-perfect growing conditions along the Himalayan foothills.

Yet, annual coffee production has declined by 15% to only 550 tons in the past years, and this meets only a fraction of the domestic demand of 6,000 tons.

Nepali coffee fetches $22 per kg in the international market, but Nepal only exports 3% of its crop. If cleverly promoted, the international demand for Nepali coffee can be 8,000 tons.

"Coffee is all about story-telling," explains Gagan Pradhan, founder of Himalayan Java...