Exclusive Access to Ethiopia’s Cup of Excellence Auctions

cupping-lab
Michiel Lampers

Michiel Lampers

This year we will organise a Buyers’ Group in order to give you a chance to participate in the auction of the 39 best coffees of the Ethiopia Cup of Excellence. By bundling our purchase power, we can compete effectively with larger buyers. We don’t have to tell you that access to the auction is pretty exclusive. 

Last year 168 registered bidders from 33 different countries competed for no less than five hours to get the top Ethiopian coffees, and successfully it resulted in a record for raising the highest rewards for the coffee producers in the competition. The highest scoring coffee was sold for $185,10 per pound, according to the ACE the highest price ever paid for an Ethiopian coffee.

Only 15 seats are available for the Buyers’ Group, so indicate your interest now by leaving your email if you haven’t done that already. 

 Yes, please send me more info on participation!

The auctions are held on the following dates:

  • Auction 1 – The 9 National Winners. Auction date range: 28th June – 9th July
  • Auction 2 – Cup of Excellence Top 30. Auction date: 7th July

Cupping Days

The Coffee Quest is organizing two cuppings of 20 coffee lots each. Registration is on invite only. For all participants to the Buyers’ Group attending at least one of our two cuppings in our Lab at Amsterdam Roasters is mandatory. 

  • First Cupping Day: 17th June – 14:00 
  • Second Cupping Day: 23rd June – 14:00

Address: Nieuwendammerdijk 526P, 1023 BX Amsterdam

cupping-cup-of-excellence

ACE is responsible for the global Cup of Excellence (CoE) competitions and auctions. These events push coffee quality and value to a higher level, to the benefit of the industry as a whole. They organized the first Ethiopian Cup of Excellence in 2020, in cooperation with the Ethiopian Coffee and Tea Authority and funded by US Agency for International Development organisation Feed the Future. Due to COVID-19 the first event was an achievement on its own!

National winners score at least 85 points, while lots that win the Top 30 International Contest need to score at least 87 points. Additionally, those who score higher than 90+ receive an Organization President’s Award. All the winning lots of the National and International Contest, 39 in total, will be auctioned.

The Auction process

  • The National Winner auction (NW) is a listing auction with a specific end date.

    This auction has a specific begin and end date. Bids are placed publicly and bidders can react by overbidding. Usually, in these types of auctions, bidding becomes increasingly active near the end of the period, with final bids being placed until the last second. Michiel Lampers will actively bid for you in this auction. 

If the bid you have agreed to place is surpassed during the bidding period, Michiel will inform you (once per day max) and give you the opportunity to increase your bid. If your bid is still valid on the final day of the auction, Michiel will use it to finalise the bidding.

  • The Cup of Excellence Top 30 auction is a live bidding auction using a clock system.

    During the auction, Michiel Lampers will place your bid. The bid you have agreed to place (e.g. $20/lb) will be placed as an “auto bid”, meaning the system will continuously increase our bid if another buyer offers higher, until the bid reaches its maximum of $20/lb. 

Important (!) If the bidding stops at $16/lb, we get the lot for $16/lb, but if bidding continues beyond $20/lb, the lot will go to another bidder.

At the start of the auction, bids are placed on all lots. Once all lots have bids on them, a 3-minute clock will count down. During these 3 minutes, bids can be updated. If a single bid on any of the 30 lots is updated, the clock will reset. This process has no end date, and could potentially go on forever. The auction ends if no more bids are placed on any lots and the 3-minute clock runs down to 0.

At that time, all results are known, and placers of winning bids will be informed of their purchase!

Discover other stories ...