Last July 2021, after The Ethiopian Cup of Excellence event occurred, two auctions have successfully taken place, witnessing some heated bidding to compete for the 39 awarded Ethiopian lots.
It has been quite the experience for The Coffee Quest. We are proud of the results and the collaboration within all joining parties. So, here’s a small wrap-up to recall the best moments of this experience and to thank everyone who got on board.
The Ethiopian Auction 2021 was The Coffee Quest’s first Cup of Excellence in which we organized a buyers’ group and represented our collective purchasing power. Prior to the auction, we hosted two cupping sessions at Amsterdam Roasters during June and shared the samples with whom could not join the cupping days.
We really enjoyed seeing roasters join us and have a taste of the offered Ethiopian coffee. By fulfilling our role, we helped our buyers take one step closer towards owning some of the best coffees from Ethiopia.
Exclusive Access to Ethiopia’s Cup of Excellence Auctions
This blog will explain how to participate in the two auctions of the Ethiopia Cup of Excellence 2021 and secure the best coffee lots with us.
Successfull Collaboration
First of all, The Coffee Quest wants to congratulate with all the buyers with their purchase of the best coffee Ethiopia has to offer. We also thank our clients of the first hour, Fascino and Nordbeans and the Alliance Cup of Excellence (ACE) app group, Coffee Tech and Cobeans. We were able to expand our group and to include additional buyers from Europe, North America, Western and Eastern Asia.
In addition, we want to congratulate the Ethiopian producers too, in particular:
- lot #8’s Assefa Dukamo Kerma and his son, our friend, Kenean Dukamo
- lot #2a’s 116 producers from Dawencho G/H/D Bunna Amrach coffee farmers’ union.
Through this Cup of Excellence auction, together we have added significant value to these coffees, ready for roasters to pass on to consumers.
“The auction itself was an amazing experience for me, representing you and The Coffee Quest. With your maximum bid in mind, I did my best and successfully acquired what we desired!” – Michiel Lampers, Founder and CEO of The Coffee Quest Europe
During the Ethiopian CoE auction, we hosted a live session where we were thrilled to see all the joining parties of the Buyers’ Group joining us online, but also Kenean Dukamo and Tamiru Tadesse Tesema, winner of lot #1.
After nearly 10 hours of auction and a hilarious false win, we made our move in the final seconds and secured victory!
The wrap-up of the auction took slightly longer than expected
Ethiopia is currently facing a complicated political situation, according to our information from ACE. Inconsistent regulations and civil servants plagued the export process organized by Mr. Abdullah Bagersh. The process was further delayed as some of his team – luckily all recovered now – suffered from Covid-19. Certainly, we can all relate to the delayed exports following reduced capacity of transport due to the current global logistical disruptions
Regardless, the long journey has finally passed, and the Cup of Excellence lots have securely arrived. We will work with ACE in any future CoE event to improve where possible, as we are both committed to Excellence and Quality in all facets of the trade.
Mark your calendar
For any future auctions, The Coffee Quest will continue to support and set up buyers’ groups, on our or your initiative. You will receive a direct invite to participate when we are going to set one up!
The next auction on our schedule is the one for The Ecuador Cup of Excellence 2021, taking place on the 29th November 2021. The buyers’ group for Ecuador will be organized by Stephen Levene and Sarah Oermann from The Coffee Quest US.
For interested partners, samples will be available to be shipped around Europe or at our Lab in Amsterdam during our cupping sessions.
Read more below for further info!
