Antônio de Oliveira Filho and his father Antônio de Oliveira. Courtesy photo.
Nearly a quarter century since its founding, the Brazil Cup of Excellence (CoE) green coffee competition in 2022 has resulted in nearly a quarter million dollars (USD) for producers of 24 high-scoring microlots of specialty coffee.
More than 1,600 bids came in during the online CoE auction that lasted more than five hours last week, including winning bids for the auction’s top coffee, a catuai variety that scored 91.41 points, according to the expert international jury.
Produced by Antonio Rigno de Oliveira Filho of Fazenda Tijuco in Piatã, Chapada Diamantina, Bahia, the top lot was split into two for the auction, with one high bidder securing a share for $43 per pound, and a second high bidder buying the coffee for $42.90.
According to the Brazil Specialty Coffee Association (BSCA) — which organized the event along with the nonprofit Alliance for Coffee Excellence and the Brazilian trade agency ApexBrasil — the top five lots in the competition were acquired by companies from Italy, Greece and Japan. Each of the coffees scored 90+ points, earning the “Presidential Award” distinction.
“It is great to see the Italians and Greeks bidding for Brazil’s highest quality specialty coffee again at our annual auction,” BSCA Executive Director Vinicius Estrela said in an announcement from the group. “This is a trend that we had previously observed before the pandemic, but had stopped over the last three-odd years.”
Brazil is actually the birthplace of the Cup of Excellence competition and auction program, which has spread to more than a dozen countries at various points over the past 23 years.
Meanwhile, over the past year, the BSCA and ApexBrazil have aggressively engaged in international market-building for Brazilian coffee exports with particular emphasis on differentiated, single-origin, specialty-grade Brazilian coffees for markets such as the United States and Europe.
In last week’s announcement, the BSCA noted that bidders came from all over the world. Said Estrela, “This shows that our coffees increasingly meet the expectations of the largest and most demanding global consumers, delivering diversity, quality and, above all, socially responsible and sustainable coffee.”
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