The Mountain Journal
Twenty-four percent of the coffee offered at the Nairobi Coffee Exchange (NCE) in the weekly auction was certified, thus attracting 21 local and international buyers.
In the weekly market, 15,749 bags were sold, fetching Sh Sh884.5 million, where 3,764 bags were certified coffee that attracted the best prices.
Last week the market offered 12, 120 bags of coffee, earning the estate and cooperative farmers Sh 688.6 million.
In the analysis, 16 percent of the coffee was certified by the Rainforest Alliance, 11 percent by Fairtrade, C.A.F.E. practices eight percent, while 0.5 percent was organic coffee and 4.7 percent was EUDR certified.
Alliance Berries Limited, the NCE report stated, offered the highest volume of the certified coffee supplied by Mara Coffee, Thanga ini and Kapsaos cooperative societies led the pack.
Nyeri-based Kiamambara factory achieved the highest price for its certified grade AA coffee that fetched Sh 55,965 per bag, followed by Murang’a-based Kiringoro factory, which sold grade AB coffee certified by RA at Sh 53, 892.80 for each of 15 bags to Sondhi Trading Limited.
In the NCE report, the brokers offered 1,762 bags of grade AA, 6,174 bags of AB and 3,333 bags of grade C.
Coffee value chain expert Henry Kinyua said the certification over the years has attracted better prices, thus encouraging growers to undertake the certification process.
“The buyers have shown a lot of interest in certified coffee, a trend forcing many of the estates and cooperatives to seek certification for their produce to undertake certification,” said Kinyua
The report further detailed that that NKPCU offered 4,329 bags that accounted for 27.4 percent , followed by the Alliance Berries Limited 2,771 bags (18 percent) , Kirinyaga Slopes 2,398 bags (15.2 percent), CEBBA 1,372 bags, KCCE 1,216 bags, Meru County 1,194 bags among others.
