Fazenda Rainha, grower of COE winning lot #13, sold to Campos Coffee of Australia
The Brazil 2014 Cup of Excellence Late Harvest auction was held last week, showing modest incremental gains in an otherwise challenging market environment.
It’s been a turbulent few weeks for the ‘C’ market, with commodity coffee prices nearly doubling since February and topping out recently at just over $2.00/lb. That sort of instability sends specialty coffee buyers scrambling to fix purchase contracts on coffees for later in the year and sending auction bidders to the sidelines. Green coffee prices may climb but credit limits remain the same, making coffee buyers cautious when considering new and unscheduled purchases, such as those from high profile auctions. Nevertheless, the Brazil Cup of Excellence auction was able to record a 10% increase for the average price of coffees sold when compared to the prior year’s contest.
Winning coffees from the 2014 Brazil Cup of Excellence Late Harvest competition were auctioned on March 6th, fetching an average of $6.76 per pound – a 10% gain over the 2013 average of $6.15.
Top lots sold included:
- Nossa Senhora Aparecida (lot #1), by farmer Cinthia Dias Villela to Maruyama Coffee and Café Maple of Japan at $15.60 / lb.;
- Fazenda Rainha (lot #13), from Fazenda Sertãozinho LTDA to Campos Coffee of Australia at $9.80 / lb.; and
- Fazenda Paraíso (lot #2), by farmer Antônio Fortes Bustamante to GSC International of Korea at $8.50 / lb.
In all, proceeds from the sale of twenty-three lots raised over $302,000, 80-85% of which is paid directly to the winning farmers after infrastructure costs.
The Brazil Cup of Excellence competition is one of two COE events held in Brazil each year and features Brazil’s exceptional dry natural processed coffees. An Early Harvest competition highlights pulped natural and washed coffees.