There are three farms in Central America who auction online varieties of coffee such as geisha, mocha and yellow catuai, in small batches of about 300 pounds.

Two of the farms are in Guatemala and one in Panama. They use this system of auction specialty coffee production, taking advantage of the emergence of “micro-roasters”, who buy in small batches, of no more than 10 bags, coffee that is “different, exceptional”, after searching through the Internet, and who pay prices above normal international prices.

An article in Prensalibre.com reports that “individual auctions allow the sale of small batches of coffee at better prices than in the traditional market. In a 2011 sale, the farm El Injerto de Huehuetenango, sold 125 quintals and in 2012, 160. The maximum value achieved by a pound of coffee in a single auction was $500”.

Source: Prensa Libre