From Shevaroy Hills to Your Cup: The MSP Coffee Story

A Legacy Rooted in Coffee

In the early 1900s, Navin’s great-great-grandfather, MSP Senthikumar Nadar, stood out, educated, fluent in English, and trusted by the British. Where many saw barriers, he saw opportunity. He began trading in coffee, cardamom, and other spices, gradually acquiring estates across Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka. 

Over the decades, the family’s estates grew into one of India’s largest coffee operations. MSP Rajes, his grandfather, also established Hill Tiller coffee roasters, which grew to become one of India’s leading coffee exporters, holding the top position for over three decades. They also created MSP, named after Mundakannan, Senthikumar, and Periasamy, and established themselves as leaders in the industry.

Navin’s grandfather and , MSP Rajes and MSP Raja, didn’t just run estates; they promoted Indian coffee globally and gave back to society, building universities and institutions that still stand today.

“For us, coffee wasn’t just a livelihood,” Navin says. “It was history. It was legacy.”

For him, that legacy wasn’t abstract; it was the hills of Yercaud where he spent his boyhood.

Growing Up, Moving Away

Navin’s childhood was steeped in the rhythms of coffee. Montfort taught him discipline, but the harvest taught him more, patience from ripening cherries, responsibility from workers hauling baskets, and pride in land his family had nurtured for generations.

Yet his ambitions stretched far beyond Yercaud. After schooling in Coimbatore, he moved to New Zealand to study law and finance, and later practiced law in Sydney alongside his wife.

“So once I finished both of those, I said, ‘Okay, I think it's time to get back and help the family and get back into the family farming business and move it forward,’” he recalls.

And so, he returned with his wife and children.

Reinventing the Family Business

When Navin returned to Yercaud, his brother Ashok and cousin Kamalesh came too. For forty years, their father, Mohan Rajes, had carried the estates with skill and discipline, passing down the knowledge of generations. Building on that foundation, the three set out not just to preserve the legacy, but to expand it, steering MSP toward specialty coffee.

The shift was bold, and skepticism came fast. They built on methods that had worked for generations, pushing them further with refinements that at first seemed hard to accept.

“Our workers were used to drying parchment in three days. We asked them to wait 30 days. They thought it was crazy,” Navin recalls.

Patience and persistence became daily requirements. Every extended drying cycle carried a risk. But Navin was certain: specialty coffee wasn’t a trend. It was a way to reclaim value and put Indian coffee on the global map.

Early challenges tested their approach. Buyers complained that coffees didn’t match, even within the Selection line from Shevaroy Hills. To solve the problem, the family mapped their thousand-acre estate into small blocks, noting soil types, slopes, and coffee varieties. They introduced traceability systems, tracking every lot down to the picker. Gradually, washed coffees began scoring consistently in specialty ranges. Buyers returned, not just for MSP coffee but for specific zones and lots.

“we're not just selling good coffee, we sell really good coffee,” Navin says. “Anyone who buys from us thinks they’re getting good coffee but we go beyond and give them excellent coffee every time.”

Shevaroy Hills offered a hidden advantage. Within just four kilometers, the estate spans three very different climatic zones. Navin recalls walking into the office in shorts and a polo shirt, while his cousin, just a few kilometers away, zipped into a jacket and beanie, frost on his face. What had once been a source of amusement became essential: the microclimates shaped the flavors of Selection 9 coffee from each zone.

What could have been a weakness became a strength. Yercaud’s terroirs were as distinct as any in the coffee world. The Eastern Ghats, 15 million years old, scatter soils every few kilometers, giving each slope its own character. The family learned to embrace these differences, turning them into flavor, consistency, and a story in every cup. Managing such diversity, however, required more than tradition; it demanded a new way of running the estate.

Running the Estate Today

A thousand acres of coffee in Shevaroy Hills can’t be run from one desk. The Rajes family knew early on that survival meant sharing responsibility. Instead of central command, they carved the estate into zones, each mapped for soil, slope, varietal, and microclimate. Each zone runs like a farm of its own.

The land has become a laboratory of experiments. Thirty-day drying cycles. Microlot separations. Longer fermentations. What once sounded “crazy” to workers is now routine. Every lot is traced back to the picker, every block studied for what it gives best.

Even processing was reinvented. Three scattered yards were folded into one massive, centralized unit. After years of relentless rain, they built 28,000 square feet of covered drying yards, layered shade, double-decker tables, total control.

Each member of the family plays a distinct role: Ashok minds the soil, Navin connects farm to market and Kamalesh focuses on the hospitality side of the business. And Mohan Rajes continues to be actively involved with MSP Coffee. Together, they have shaped an estate that runs not just on tradition and precision, but also on a restless hunger to do better.

Working Together as Family

For the Rajes family, running the estate means trusting each other’s roles.

“If I get a 30-ton order, I don’t ask a manager, I call Ashok,” Navin says. “He knows whether we have it. No back and forth. It keeps the ship tight.”

Decisions are made through their “Mr. No” policy. In every discussion, one person’s job is to push back.

“It’s frustrating at first,” Navin admits, “but three months later we come out with stronger answers and better options.”

That constant back-and-forth fuels creativity. Each farm manager joins in the spirit too, competing on who scores the highest or sells the best coffee, with bonuses tied to performance. The result is a workplace that feels energetic, inventive, and family-driven, a culture where both innovation and accountability thrive.

It’s the same spirit of questioning and experimentation that eventually pushed the family to look beyond the farm itself.

From Farms to Roastery: Completing the Coffee Chain

Navin’s realization at the farm gate didn’t stop with sourcing. Specialty coffee was only half the solution. The other half lay in closing the gap between grower and consumer. It started small, with experiments on a classic stovetop roaster that he still treasures today, reviving the Hill Tiller & Co brand.

“The connection between sight, sound, and smell on that roaster is something different,” he recalls.

From those early experiments grew a full-fledged roastery. Today, MSP’s coffee reaches cafés, homes, and partners across India.

“Roasting closes the loop,” Navin says simply. “It lets us share coffee the way we intended it to be tasted.”

But accessibility has always been central to his philosophy. Specialty coffee shouldn’t be reserved for connoisseurs.

“We don’t want specialty to intimidate people. We aim to make specialty coffee accessible,” he explains.

That philosophy has guided innovations like specialty coffee in liquid form, already brewed and packed in pouches, where you simply pour into water or milk and serve. The family spent eight months testing and refining them until they became a staple at home for their sheer convenience. Now, they’re preparing to launch the pouches in a bigger way, bringing specialty coffee within easier reach of everyday drinkers. What began as an experiment has grown into a vision, making Indian coffee accessible at home and recognized abroad.

Championing Indian Coffee’s Future

The dual perspective, rooted both in the soil and in the roastery, gives Navin a front-row view of Indian coffee’s transformation.

“In 2014, nobody asked for Indian coffee at international fairs,” he says. “Today, they ask for Shevaroy Hills by name.”

The shift reflects not just their work but the efforts of many farmers and roasters who elevated standards. Yet recognition remains uneven. Yercaud, with its 150-year history and nearly 22,000 acres under coffee, will finally receive its GI tag this year. For Navin, that absence is more than a technicality; it is a missing chapter in India’s coffee identity.

He sees the way forward not in chasing every new experiment but in defending consistency.

“Specialty starts with the basics,” he insists. “It starts with not picking green cherries.”

In his view, India’s true strength lies in its high-quality washed coffees and robustas, the backbone of reliability in a world too easily distracted by trends.

For their family, farming is never just business. It is patience, living with the crop, day after day. It is continuity, carrying forward the work of past generations. And it is vision, a belief that Indian coffee can be recognized globally not only for its innovations, but for its dependability.

Closing Note

In Shevaroy Hills, every cup tells a story. Of farmers who take the risks. Of a family that broke from the old order. Of a region earning its place again on the global stage.

For Rajes family, it is both inheritance and responsibility. The legacy they grew up in is the future they are determined to shape.