TAIPEI, Taiwan — An importer from Taiwan won the bid for the most expensive coffee beans auctioned by the Best of Panama (BOP), a blind coffee tasting competition organized and run by the Specialty Coffee Association of Panama (SCAP) on July 20.
The bidding for the Elida Geisha Green Tip Natural, a variety of coffee cultivated by the Lamastus Family Estates in Panama’s Boquete town, closed at US$803 per pound, the highest per-pound price ever paid at the coffee auction.
Wang Hsin-chun, the winning bidder, said Thursday as many as 250 buyers placed bids for a limited quantity – 100 pounds – of the exquisite coffee from Lamastus.
Wang, who runs a coffee supply business based in Taichung, said the growth in coffee consumption has created about NT$70 billion (US$2.27 billion) worth of business opportunities a year in the local market.
According to Wang, his Geisha beans have already sold out, with buyers from Japan, Australia and the United States having placed orders.
The remaining 35 pounds of beans will be divided into two parts: 15 pounds for Taiwan to compete at the upcoming World Siphonist Championship in Tokyo later this year, and 20 pounds for local gourmets, he said.
