First virtual specialty coffee auction for Brazil’s Cerrado Mineiro region unveiled

The Brazilian Federation of Cerrado Mineiro Coffee Producers online auction takes place 29 January – 2 February 2024 and features 11 curated lots of 500 samples scoring 87 – 90.13 points | Photo credit: Brazilian Federation of Cerrado Mineiro Coffee Producers 

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Coffee producers in Brazil’s Cerrado Mineiro are seeking a greater slice of the global super-premium specialty coffee market with the launch of the first virtual auction dedicated to the region’s 55 municipalities.
 
Organised by the Brazilian Federation of Cerrado Mineiro Coffee Producers (FCC), the auction takes place 29 January – 2 February 2024 and features 11 curated lots of 500 samples. Each lot contains three categories – natural (dry), washed and induced fermentation processing methods – with all exceeding 87 points on the SCA cupping-methodology scale and the highest reaching 90.13 points.
 
The 2024 virtual auction will be operated by the M-Cultivo digital Platform with full English translation. 
 
“This virtual auction innovation aims to bridge the gap between Cerrado Mineiro coffee growers and high- quality international roasters, expanding the brand's reach and solidifying the region's Denomination of Origin. By fostering meaningful connections and collaboration within the coffee industry, the auction catalyses enhancing the global presence of the Cerrado Mineiro Region,” said Juliano Tarabal, Executive Director, Cerrado Mineiro Coffee Growers’ Federation.
 
In a press release, the FCC said the average quality of lots, as determined by the SCA’s Q-System, had increased by five points since the auction’s first edition, from 83.5 to 88.5.
 
According to the FCC, 60% of production in Cerrado Mineiro region is specialty grade. Over 11 previous in-person auctions, award income from producers has so far exceeded $1m, with the highest value single bag fetching $13,000 in 2023. 
 
“In 2017, we purchased the 1st Place coffee in the Cup of Excellence competition – a beautiful coffee from Cerrado Mineiro. We’ve visited the region many times since and are always impressed by the dedication of everyone involved; from farmers to cooperatives and the federation, there is a focus on quality at every step of the chain,” said James Fairbrass, international juror and Green Coffee Buyer at US specialty coffee roaster, Proudmary Coffee. 
 
The new auction will be hoping to build on the success of the Cup of Excellence (CoE), an online auction that has delivered millions of dollars in premium prices to high-quality coffee growers around the world since its inception in Brazil in 1999. 
 
Top-scoring CoE coffees can fetch prices ranging from $10 to over $100 per pound. Brazil’s 2023 CoE saw an anaerobic processed coffee from Paiolinho farm in Cerrado Mineiro score 87.62 and fetch $18.10 per pound from a buyer in Japan.