Addis Ababa - A kilogram of Ethiopia’s finest coffee has sold for a staggering $884 (about R15 000) at auction.
The winning coffees of the third Ethiopian Cup of Excellence competition on Saturday went under the hammer in the Alliance for Coffee Excellence auction this week.
The coffee that scored the highest points at the cup of excellence competition was able to get a record-breaking price from a UAE firm.
LNK Coffee Trading paid a whopping $884 for a kilogramme of the coffee.
”This is the highest price ever recorded for an Ethiopian coffee,” said the Cup of Excellence Ethiopia organisers.
Thirty coffees from four regions scored above an 87 by the International Jury, winning the annual cup of excellence.
A naturally-processed coffee, which was produced by smallholder farmer Legese Botosa from the Sidama region in Southern Ethiopia, ranked top scoring the highest 90.69 points.
In total, the winning coffees, packaged in 30kg boxes containing two 15kg vacuum-packed bags, were sold at a $37.51/lb average price a pound at the auction.
A kilo of coffee at local market is sold for $2.8.
According to CEO Magazine, wild-sourced and farmed Kopi Luwak can fetch up to $1 300/kg.
“While coffee connoisseurs have mixed opinions regarding the taste, it is believed that the enzymatic process the beans undergo as they pass through the digestive tract of the civet contributes to its smooth flavour and complex aroma, wrote the magazine’s Marlena Batchelor.
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