Ethiopia’s top coffee competition, the 2022 Cup of Excellence (CoE), has concluded with a record-breaking auction for the country’s best coffee.
The farmer who grew the coffee, Legesse Botasa Dikale, scored 90.69 with his Sidama sundried natural coffee and received the highest price ever recorded for Ethiopian coffee and the highest price in CoE history.
“I feel like I hit a Jackpot. I thank God for this opportunity, and this will completely change mine and my family’s life for the better. I am extremely happy and very thankful; I never could have imagined my coffee would have sold at this kind of price. I can expand my farm and coffee business now,” says Dikale.
The top-scoring coffee in this year’s CoE competition sold for US$400.50 per pound to LNK Coffee Trading DMCC from China. This is the highest price ever recorded for Ethiopian coffee and sets a new CoE record. The previous CoE record was for US$300.09 per pound set in 2018 for the Costa Rica first place winning lot.
“This coffee impressed us a lot with rich floral and fruity flavors and acidity during sample cupping. We double-checked with pour-over methods to convince us it’s one of the best natural Ethiopia coffees we experienced in this crop year which perfectly presents the terroir flavours of Sidama, Ethiopia,” says Xiaoxiao Kang, General Manager of LNK Coffee Trading.
The Saudi Arabian company, Sulalat Coffee Trading, bought the second highest scoring coffee belonging to Kenean Dukamo at US$189.10 per pound. The coffee was anaerobic from Sidama with a score of 90.25.
The average price for the 30 coffees was US$37.51per pound, a new record with total proceeds of US$1,370,736. The top three coffees had a total of 398 bids. This year, around 170 buyers from 23 countries registered and received samples to participate in the auction. The top five countries with the biggest number of registered buyers were South Korea, Japan, United States, China, and Taiwan.
Five coffees scored above 90 points winning the Presidential Award in the 2022 competition, which is the most prestigious award in the competition.
The third annual competition was organised by the Ethiopian Coffee and Tea Authority, in partnership with Alliance for Coffee Excellence (ACE), the Ethiopian Private Coffee Associations, and USAID’s CATALYZE Ethiopia Market Systems for Growth activity.
For more information on the winning coffees and details on the auction, visit the ACE results page.