NAIROBI: Coffee farmers have realized Sh372 million from the sale of 9,030 bags of coffee, equivalent to 562,266 kilos of cherries, at this week’s auction held at the Nairobi Coffee Exchange (NCE).
According to Kenya News Agency, the auction featured 10 brokers and saw a 50-kilo bag of cherry fetching an average price of Sh31,247. Mbee Factory, associated with Mitaboni Cooperative Society in Machakos County, secured the highest bid, selling 56 bags of grade AA coffee at Sh40,824 per bag. Following closely was Kaukiswa Factory under Kambusu Cooperative Society, which achieved Sh40,506 for each bag of their AA grade coffee.
The auction also highlighted notable sales by Gachuiro and Kapsaos Toremo factories, represented by Alliance Berries Limited, with their 197 bags of AA grade coffee fetching Sh38,892 per bag. Collectively, grades AA and AB, which are considered premium, represented 57 percent of the total volume traded at the auction.
The brokers participating included prominent names such as New KPCU and
Alliance Berries among others. New KPCU traded the highest volume, selling 2,105 bags totaling 131,906 kilos for Sh87.35 million. Alliance Berries followed with sales amounting to Sh82.308 million for 1,992 bags.
On the buyers’ side, fourteen entities participated, with Ibero Kenya Ltd. purchasing the highest volume at 2,702 bags for Sh107.2 million. Luis Dreyfus Company and C. Dorman Ltd. also made significant purchases totaling Sh63.5 million and Sh55.34 million respectively.
Addressing the quality of coffee, NCE Chief Executive Officer Lisper Ndungu emphasized the market’s preference for high-quality coffee and encouraged leaders of the 619 cooperative societies represented at the auction to focus on producing top-tier cherries.
Peter Gikonyo, Chairman of the Kenya Coffee Producers Association, conveyed the association’s commitment to enhancing the quality of coffee produced by local farmers to ensure they achieve the best market prices.
