For the first time, three coffee lots were sold above $12.00/lb and two Guatemalan roasters bought two of the winning lots.

A total of 19 coffee lots were auctioned in the prestigious Cup of Excellence Guatemala, and were successfully sold at a weighted average price per pound of $7.70, a new world record.

During the four hours and fifteen minutes that the Internet auction lasted, Solberg & Hansen AS in Norway successfully bid on the coffee lot of El Socorro y Anexos, located in Palencia, Guatemala, at $19.50/lb, followed by Stumptown Coffee in the United States, who bid on El Injerto I, located in La Libertad, Huehuetenango, at $15.15 and Mikatajuku group, Honey Coffee in Japan and Osir Coffee in Taiwan bid on ACTASA, located in San Cristóbal, Alta Verapaz, at $12.10/lb.

Lowest price was $5.57/lb and a total of 394 bags of 69 kilos were sold to 41 buyers of nine different countries at a total of $461,713.02. Christian Rasch, chairman of Anacafé, said, “we are very satisfied with the results, because we surpassed the average price per pound of last year.”

In regard to record price, he stated, “the results indicate that growers have improved quality standards and it has been recognized by the international market place.”

Juan Diego de la Cerda, representative of El Socorro y Anexos, who received the highest price per pound, indicated, “we did not expect to receive this price. This is the first time we participate in the auction program.” For Arturo Aguirre, representative of El Injerto I, who has participated in auction events, said, “it benefits us because it promotes our farm around the world. This is how we can negotiate better prices.”

Emilio Ical Lem, president of Sac Ixim, community that produced ACTASA’s coffee lot, said, “we are very happy with the results because it surpassed the price we received last year. We will invest this money in improving our wet mill so we can continue producing better quality coffees.” Daniel Morales and Bibiano Gutiérrez, small coffee growers from Jalapa, each auctioned their coffees at $6.30/lb. “Prices were better this year”, expressed Bibiano after seeing the results. Last year, they received $5.01 and $6.03.

For the first time in the Cup of Excellence® program, El Cafetalito and Café León, local roasters, bought two of the coffee lots by Internet. For Hans Masch, representative of El Cafetalito, “the local market has also become more discerning and consumers are aware not only about the quality coffee that is being export, but also that it is available in local stores.” Arturo Rodríguez, representative of Café León, indicated, “It is clear that the international market recognizes the quality of Guatemalan Coffees and we are proud to provide the local market with the same quality.”

This is the fourth edition of Cup of Excellence in Guatemala. A total of 119 bidders registered to participate, who received samples of the 19 coffee lots in order to select their favorites for their most discerning consumers.

Winning farms can be seen at www.cupofexcellence.org. For more information about Cup of Excellence Guatemala contact Susie@montana.com or gabrielacv@anacafe.org.