A Tolima Coffee Fair Sets a US$75 Record for a Geisha Microlot
COLOMBIA · COFFEE
Key Facts
- —The price US$75 a pound, for a washed Geisha microlot.
- —The auction The fourth international coffee fair of Tolima, held in Chaparral.
- —The coffee Grown in Ortega, Tolima, at the La Victoria farm in the Guayabo Alto district.
- —The producer Aristóbulo Rayo Méndez. One outlet also credits Alexander Rayo.
- —The record A record for this fair. Not a Colombian or world record.
- —The buyer A French buyer, named in one report as Thomas Clement.
Seventy-five dollars a pound is remarkable for Tolima and ordinary for Geisha. Both of those are worth knowing.
A washed Geisha microlot grown in Ortega, Tolima, sold for US$75 a pound at the fourth international coffee fair of Tolima in Chaparral, a record for the event and a substantial premium over anything ordinary Colombian coffee earns.
What Was Sold and Where
The coffee comes from the La Victoria farm in the Guayabo Alto district of Ortega, in the department of Tolima. The auction itself took place in Chaparral, at the fourth Feria Internacional del Café Tolima, Corazón Cafetero de Colombia.
The distinction between where the coffee was grown and where it was sold matters because the fair is a regional event that brings producers from across Tolima to a single auction, and the record belongs to the event.
The producer is recorded as Aristóbulo Rayo Méndez. One outlet credits Alexander Rayo alongside him, and The Rio Times notes the discrepancy rather than choosing between them.
What a Geisha Is
Geisha, sometimes written Gesha, is a variety originally collected in Ethiopia and brought to Central America through Costa Rica and Panama. It produces low yields and is difficult to grow, and it rewards altitude and careful processing with a cup profile that specialty buyers pay heavily for.
The variety became famous through Panamanian auctions from the mid-2000s onwards, and its spread into Colombia has been recent. A Tolima Geisha reaching US$75 is evidence that the variety and the processing knowledge have both arrived.
A microlot means a small, separately processed batch, often from a single plot or a single day’s picking. It is sold on identity rather than by grade.
Putting US$75 in Context
Standard Colombian washed arabica trades against the New York C contract plus a differential, and a producer receiving three or four dollars a pound is having a strong year by that measure.
Seventy-five dollars is therefore an order of magnitude above the commodity price, and it reaches the farm rather than being distributed through the chain, which is the entire point of a producer auction.
It is not, however, a world record. International Geisha auctions such as the Best of Panama have cleared prices in the thousands of dollars a pound. Reporting this as a world or national record would be wrong, and some summaries have.
Why Tolima
Tolima sits on the central and eastern Andean ranges with the altitude specialty coffee requires, and it was for decades one of the departments most affected by the armed conflict, which kept investment and buyers away.
Specialty coffee has been one of the more visible economic changes in the department since. An auction that brings international buyers to Chaparral is doing something a price alone does not capture.
What Is Not Established
The size of the lot has not been disclosed, which matters: at US$75 a pound, a 30-kilogram lot and a 300-kilogram lot are very different outcomes for the producer.
All the coverage comes from small regional outlets, without confirmation from the national press or the coffee growers’ federation. The Rio Times reports the price as reported and flags the sourcing.
More: Colombia news in English, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
What price was reached?
US$75 a pound for a washed Geisha microlot.
Where was the auction?
Chaparral, Tolima, at the fourth Feria Internacional del Café of Tolima.
Where was the coffee grown?
The La Victoria farm in Guayabo Alto, Ortega, Tolima.
Is it a world record?
No. It is a record for this fair. Panamanian Geisha auctions have cleared thousands of dollars a pound.
How large was the lot?
Not disclosed, which limits what the price tells us about the producer’s return.
Sources: Tolima Online, La Otra Verdad.
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error
In depth
Read More from The Rio Times