45 producers and 56 lots of specialty grade coffee from 12 countries will be joining the first Singapore (Micro-Lot) Specialty Coffee Auction organised virtually by the Singapore Coffee Association (SCA), in partnership with Food&HotelAsia (FHA), on 1 October 2020. All producers are first-timers from Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Indonesia, Kenya, Myanmar, Panama, Peru, Timor Leste, Venezuela and Zambia.
For many specialty coffee producers, selling their beans through traders has been the legacy practice. However, the pandemic, which caused travel and social restrictions to be enforced worldwide, has disrupted supply chains and turned coffee trading sluggish.
Staging a virtual coffee auction helps to mitigate trade and supply challenges by allowing buyers to source directly from the origin and enable coffee producers to establish a presence in the Asian market.
“I am very pleased to be participating in this first-ever virtual coffee auction organised by the Singapore Coffee Association. I am sure that the auction will be an event of great success because of its extraordinary organisation. It is an honour to be able to present our best Panama Geisha Coffee to the Asia Pacific market,” commented Stefan Muller, Managing Director, Cafe Don Benjie, producer of Panamanian Geisha.
The Singapore (Micro-Lot) Specialty Coffee Auction will present 56 lots of specialty grade coffee beans including the rare and premium Panamanian Geisha from Panamanian producers – Café Don Benjie and Cafelino S.A. The world’s most expensive coffee beans, the Geisha beans were sold at US$1,029 for a pound in 2019. Grown in the highland areas of Panama, the Geisha beans undergo a meticulous process, from hand-picking of the ripe cherries to processing the beans.
“It is interesting and really innovative for the Singapore Coffee Association to be organising a coffee auction virtually. The event is a timely one which I trust will effectively help farmers like us to market our green coffee to Asia,” said Xenia de Ameglio, Owner, Cafelino S.A, producer of Panamanian Geisha.
Examples of other varieties in the auction:
- Mundo Novo, Geisha and Yellow Catucaí from Brazil;
- Caturra Amarillo from Columbia;
- F1 Centroamericano and Hy-04 Natural from Costa Rica;
- Bourbon from Guatemala;
- Ateng Super from Indonesia;
- SL 34, SL 28 and Ruiru Grafted from Kenya;
- Catuai and Catimor H528 from Myanmar, and more.
Check out the auction catalogue and full listing of varieties here.
“Since the launch of our Singapore (Micro Lot) Specialty Coffee (Virtual) Auction in late July, we have received a tremendous amount of interest from all around the world. With an anticipated 40 auction lots, we have now 56 lots of high-quality specialty coffee from 12 countries participating in this event,” noted Mr Victor Mah, President, Singapore Coffee Association.
“An estimated 200 bidders from around Asia and the Middle East are expected to turn up at this first-ever virtual coffee auction. We will be looking forward to an exciting programme on 1 October.”
To complement the auction, an exclusive webinar organised by the ASEAN Coffee Federation (ACF), Effects of Climate Change on Coffee Production in ASEAN will be held before the auction on the same day. Led by ACF, the webinar will feature a panel of industry gurus who will shed light on the impact of the ever-changing climate on coffee farming in Southeast Asia.
