Inaugural Auction Concludes, Average Price Leads Asia
The inaugural Taiwan Coffee International Auction Invitational, organized by TCL Taiwan Coffee Laboratory, completed its international auction on the M-Cultivo platform on the evening of 10月29日. This year's auction attracted over 144 domestic and international buyers, with 2,217 competitive bids, total transaction value exceeding 490萬元 New Taiwan Dollars, and an average transaction price of over 6,000元 New Taiwan Dollars per kilogram, setting a record for the highest average price at a Taiwan coffee international auction. The organizer noted that this average price leads Asia, making it the highest-average-price coffee-producing-country auction this year second only to Panama, symbolizing Taiwan's rise as a synonym for top Asian coffee and marking a new milestone in internationalization.
Champion Xiangyang Nearly 1.4萬元 per Kilogram
The highest bid of this year's auction went to the Champion lot, Xiangyang Taiwan Coffee, at nearly 14,000元 New Taiwan Dollars per kilogram. Ziye Coffee, the specialty coffee brand under Ever Rich Duty Free Shop, secured 6 lots including the Champion lot, becoming the largest buyer of this year's auction. TCL Taiwan Coffee Laboratory stated that through actual procurement and channel support, Ziye Coffee continues to leverage the international airport platform to connect Taiwan's quality agricultural specialties with international travelers, letting the world taste Taiwan through a cup of coffee, demonstrating concrete channel support for the local coffee industry.
Buyers From Japan, US and Korea Compete, 12 Local Operators Respond
The auction drew global specialty coffee buyers, including 5 Japanese specialty coffee operators such as Tokyo Kuramae reservation-only coffee shop Lonich, Sumida ROCA Coffee Roasters, and Kanazawa, Ishikawa Yukidoke Ame Coffee Roastery. Another 6 international buyers participated, including Blue Bottle Coffee founder James Freeman's new brand Chaff Inc, Dallas, Texas Cultivar Coffee, Korea's FILLOUT, Bali, Indonesia's Overhead, Saudi Arabia's Black Knight and Russia's Silky Drum, with Black Knight and Silky Drum participating again after a year. Taiwan local operators included 12 buyers such as 93coffee, Piccolo Angolo, Yiting, JOE'S CHILL Taiwan, and Davinci Coffee, who together won 8 award-winning lots.
Dual Competition System Connects With International Market, Giving Back to Producers
The Taiwan Coffee Laboratory this year established for the first time a dual system of the Best Taiwan Coffee Open Competition and the Taiwan Coffee International Auction Invitational, the former selecting annual quality lots through nationwide open submissions by a national jury, and the latter inviting international judges for evaluation and bringing them to the international market through global open bidding. This year's invitational featured 30 entries from 26 estates across 8 counties and cities competing for the annual Top 20. Project director Lin Zhehao said Taiwan coffee has accumulated quality, value and international visibility from quality certification to international auctions to establishing an independent competition platform, hoping to give outstanding producers tangible returns and let global buyers discover Taiwan's land and artisan spirit in a cup of coffee.