Ultra High Price of Speciality Coffee!

The Global Coffee Report Industry Update online issue of 19th September, 2019 carried an article on a recording breaking selling price for an Arabica coffee. Below is the text of that report.

Panamanian coffee farm Ninety Plus has sold a prototype of its Geisha coffee in Dubai for a world record price of US$10,000 per kilogram (US$4536 per pound). The prototype coffee involves highly controlled cultivation and the use of local yeast strains during multi-stage fermentations. 

The experimental batch of Geisha coffee broke the previous world record, also set by Ninety Plus, of US$5001.50 per kilogram (US$2268 per pound) in 2017. Emirati entrepreneur and creator of The Espresso Lab, Ibrahim Al Mallouhi convinced Ninety Plus Founder Joseph Brodsky to sell the coffee. Each cup will retail for US$250.

In July of 2019, it was reported in the online Daily Coffee News that a natural-process Geisha from the Lamastus Family Estates in Boquete, Panama, fetched US$803 per pound yesterday at the Best of Panama green coffee auction hosted by the Specialty Coffee Association of Panama. (https://dailycoffeenews.com/2018/07/20/natural-geisha-breaks-best-of-panama-auction-record-at-803-per-pound/).

The previous top price paid at the Best of Panama auction was US$601 per pound for another Geisha last year produced by Hacienda La Esmeralda. At the time, that was the highest price ever paid for green coffee on a per-pound basis. 

The entire auction — which involved 49 lots, the majority of which were Geisha varieties — shattered previous auction highs across the board. Nearly 6,000 pounds of coffee were auctioned in total, in 50-pound boxes, with an average winning bid of $98.68 per pound. Only nine lots received less than $50 per pound.

What is the current price of one pound of ordinary coffee? 

According to the International Coffee Organisation the average price per pound of coffee in August 2019 was, for:

Colombian Milds   - US$1.29
Other Milds           - US$1.26
Brazilian Naturals  - US$0.96
Robustas              - US$0.71

[http://www.ico.org/prices/p1-August2019.pdf]

So coffee farmers have a huge incentive to get into speciality coffee production. Finding out what makes those high priced coffees such award winners will provide guidance on the varieties used, growing conditions, processing techniques and storage method; all of which contribute to excellent quality.