GUATEMALA
Cup of Excellence (COE) in-country partner Anacafé set a bidding minimum of $3.50 per pound for coffee scoring at least 85 points following Guatemala’s 16th national competition.
Judges awarded 20 coffees with scores greater than 87 and named three 90+ coffees which sold for many times the minimum. Last year Guatemalan coffees earning COE recognition averaged more than $13 per pound with a washed Gesha from La Reforma earning $60 per pound.
This year Las Macadamias took first place for a natural-process Pacamara that scored 90.16. The farm in Huehuetenango is a previous winner.
COE changed its rules in January to encourage higher prices for coffees “and to raise the profile of coffees that may still be truly excellent even if they didn’t finish in the very top of a given competition,” says Darrin Daniel, executive director of the Alliance for Coffee Excellence that sponsors COE. The organization has generated $60 million in auction revenue and will celebrate 20-year anniversary in 2019.