From July 27th to 30th, the XXIV International Tasting The Best of Panama will take place virtually, in which 45 producers registered a total of 161 specialty coffee lots.
Laestrella.com.pa reviews that "... The Specialty Coffee Association of Panama (SCAP) has completed the registration process and as of June 15 will receive 24,150 pounds of the world's most coveted coffee, which has been carefully selected by producers.
In the international auction known as "The Best of Panama", a pound of Geisha coffee from the farm La Esmeralda Cañas Verdes reached the record price of $601.
The winning bidder was the Korean company Kew Specialty Coffee Co, which offered the record price of $601 per pound of specialty coffee produced in the mountainous region of Boquete.
In the online auction of speciality coffee known as 'The Best of Panama' international buyers paid the record price of $275 per pound for the geisha variety of the grain.
In the auction, organized by the Specialty Coffee Association of Panama (SCAP), a record average price of $60 per pound was reached.
Panamaamerica.com.pa reports that "...The batch that earned the best price was Elida Geisha Green Tip Washed submitted by the Lamastus family, cultivated in the area of Alto Quiel, in the town of Boquete, about 1.800 meters above sea level, and was sold at 275.5 dollars a pound."
The fall in international prices has forced employers of specialty coffee to take steps to improve their competitiveness by resorting to full control of product traceability.
The fall in international prices in the coffee market is the main mitigating factor with which the industry is doing battle in Panama and Central America in general in order to remain profitable.
In the electronic Cup of Excellence auction 46 lots were sold, with maximum payments reaching $1,410 per hundredweight.
Without beating the prices paid at the auctions of specialty coffee in Costa Rica, Nicaragua and El Salvador, in Panama lot of Esmeralda Geisha Natural Jaramillo coffee, from the Peterson family, won first place in the auction, with a priced of $140 ,10 per pound.
The winner in the category Exotic Natural was the lot Geisha Natural Jaramillo submitted by Hacienda La Esmeralda, which along with the winners in the other categories, will be auctioned online on June 23.
Second place was awarded to a batch of Jose Gallardo Geisha, with a score of 93.1, which was also a winner in the washed exotic coffees category. On the other side, first place in the traditional washed category went to Kalithea Jesus Sierra, with a score of 88.39, and second place went to a batch of Elida Lamastus Family Washed with 87.37 points.
From April 29 to May 2 a competition will be held among producers of the geisha variety and on June 23 the auction "The Best of Panama" will take place.
"The Best of Panama" competition will evaluate two categories: variety and finish, in order to rule out the lots with less potential and highlight the salient ones, which will advance to the next round to be considered in the auction.
Panamanian producers of the geisha variety have stated that competition has increased since countries such as Costa Rica, Mexico and Colombia entered this market segment.
In the past eight years Panama come to be seen as the sole producer and exporter worldwide of the geisha variety, with exports reaching between 8000 and 10,000 hundredweight per year and with up to 1000 hundredweight selling locally at a good price.
Confirmation has been given for August 26th as the second phase of the electronic auction "The Best of Panama" which will offer 46 lots of geisha and traditional coffee in the wash and natural presentations.
The auction starts with a base price of $4 per pound of grain and to participate in the auction international buyers must register with the Speciality Coffee Association of Panama.
Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Australia and the United States were the largest buyers in the first of two international online auctions of fine coffees known as "The Best of Panama".
In the first of two online auctions, held on June 24, the coffee house Junior Taiwan paid $107.86 per pound of coffee "... grown using a natural process in La Mula farm, owned by Willem Boot" .
On June 24 50 lots of geisha and natural coffee will be auctioned and in early August the remaining 48 lots, winners of the national contest will be auctioned.
For the international auction to be held on June 24 interested buyers "... must be registered on the www.stoneworks.com platform. Among the requirements are that they have a credit card with a limit greater than $10,000 ...
On June 24, there will be an international auction via the internet of the top 20 grains from traditional and geisha categories.
The 20 coffee lots to be auctioned internationally will be selected from a total of 23 lots that will be evaluated by national and international judges from the United States, Australia, Japan, Taiwan, Spain, South Korea and Colombia.
More than 44 international buyers have already enrolled in the online auction known as "The Best of Panama".
"Companies from Australia, Korea, France and Taiwan will participate for the first time in the online coffee auction, which will take place on June 11 in the district of Boquete, Chiriqui", reported Prensa.com.
Also taking part are companies from Sweden, the UK, Japan, China, Hong Kong and the U.S., to whom the Specialty Coffee Association of Panama (Scap, by its acronym in English), sent samples of each of the 47 finalist lots.
Geisha, one of the finest varieties of coffee in Panama, has reached $374 a kilo, the highest price paid in the international market.
There are approximately 30 members of the Speciality Coffee Association of Panama (SCAP) who grow and export this product. "In high mountainous areas in the province of Chiriqui, located on the border with Costa Rica, some 400 miles west of Panama City, a nest of just over 40 farms grow, as well as Geisha, other varieties of fine Panamanian coffee such as Pacamara, Catuai, Caturra, Bourbon or Typica ", reported Prensa.com.
From 4th to 7th of May the "Best of Panama" event will be held at the site of the Festival of Flowers and Coffee in Bouquet, where an announcement will be made of the best domestic coffee from the last harvest.
The goal of the Speciality Coffee Association of Panama (SCAP) is to promote coffee from Panama internationally, and its origin. "The products selected by a panel of international judges, will then be auctioned on the internet, on June 11, 2013, with the participation of buyers from America, Asia, Europe and Oceania", reported Panamaamerica.com.pa.