PORTLAND, Oregon, U.S. – A record price of $95.70lb was bid at the annual on-line Cup of Excellence auction held yesterday as energetic bidders ratcheted up the cost of the first-place El Salvador winning coffee to a record high.
The former record price of $50.10lb was shattered as the winning coffee from Santa Rosa farm exceeded all expectations with a Pacamara honey processed coffee that scoring over 91 points by the international jury.
Santa Rosa farm is no stranger to accolades for their quality as this farm has received multiple Cup of Excellence awards.
The entire auction featured 24 winners all scoring over 86 points and saw an average price of $13.65lb as companies from all over the globe battled for 4 hours over the right to own one these rare gems.
The second and third place coffees received well over $20.00lb. The three top coffees will be shipped to companies in Japan, Korea, China, Italy and Estonia.
The excitement of the auction was enhanced by a live feed of the winning farmers cheering and singing each time the prices rose.
“It was so exciting…It was a really excellent welcome back to CoE for El Salvador after not doing the program in 2015. Everyone is so very happy” indicated Paola Salazar de Góchez of The Consejo Salvadoreño del Café-the in-country partner for Cup of Excellence.
This was the fourteenth Cup of Excellence auction to be held for El Salvador farmers that have seen the Pacamara variety, which has now become infamous.
Darrin Daniel, Executive Director of The Alliance for Coffee Excellence, Inc. explained “The ACE team was thrilled by the results of today’s auction.
We are so proud of the winning farmers and grateful for the on-going support that our international family of roaster-members and coffee lovers continues to provide to push the Cup of Excellence program further”.
Global coffee lovers and winning Nicaragua farmers wait in anticipation for the next online auction to be held June 1st.
This auction will feature the award-winning coffees from Nicaragua and will include several unique lots.
As with El Salvador the 90+ scoring coffees will be divided into smaller lots assuring that any size company can own a small lot of coffee extraordinaire.
About Alliance for Coffee Excellence & Cup of Excellence
Alliance for Coffee Excellence is a non-profit global membership organization dedicated to advancing excellence in coffee.
Cup of Excellence, a program which gives out the most prestigious award in coffee, has affected thousands of farmers. Its unmatched focus on quality discovery, farmer premiums and transparency has changed the specialty coffee industry.
For more information about membership, juries and to register for the Cup of Excellence or national winning samples and their auctions log on to allianceforcoffeeexcellence.org.
