Honduras farm, El Laurel, sold their top lot for the highest price ever paid for a Cup of Excellence coffee — a jaw dropping $124.50 per lb.
The El Laurel farm is situated in the Las Delicias community within the municipality of Danli. Here it sits high at 1400 metres above sea level.
Farmer, Oscar Daniel Ramirez Valerio hires between 10-15 workers during harvest season and his sons come to help whenever they are available. Otherwise, the farm is managed just by Oscar and his wife.
My father gave us half hectare to start with the crop. After that I bought some land which is where my current farm is located. Working hard with the help of my wife we have made the farm grow. Now that my sons are older, and they like working in coffee, we have been getting better in the overall production with their help. There has been rough periods because the coffee rust has affected us in the past, but we are now back on our feet.
Honduras digs in its heels
It’s the second year that a farm from Honduras has broken auction price records and goes to show just how well the region is doing. This is alongside the continued good work of the Alliance for Coffee Excellence which strives to increase the diversion of money directly to farmers by increasing quality of their crop.
Honduras is now really making a clear indication of its position in the world of speciality coffee. In addition to the record breaking lot, the average price of $16.24 representing 24 lots from 21 farms in total also set a new record for the competition.
The record breaking lots from the farm were purchased by Maruyama Coffee, Uchida Coffee CREAR, Sarutahiko Coffee, and Difference Coffee(UK). The former being institutions in the Japanese coffee scene, and the latter UK company being a specialist high-end producer for the likes of Harrods.
Panama still reigns as the price king
The Honduras coffee still isn’t the most expensive to have sold at any auction. This title is still held by the 2013 lot of Gesha from Hacienda la Esmeralda which sold for $350.24 at the Best of Panama auction; Panama is not amongst the Cup of Excellence regions but continues to sell at incredibly high prices ever since.
The one to watch out for
Peru has been added on a pilot programme for 2017’s Cup of Excellence and judging by recent cuppings will be one to watch out for in September. Not just this year but alongside modern players like Honduras, Peru will be one to watch out for in years to come.
It’s a fantastic time for all who appreciate coffee, since standards across the world have never been higher.
