Coffee prices have increased significantly by 21 percent at the current biweekly auction.
This comes as a sigh of relief to coffee farmers who have been making losses when the prices were low in the last few months as it is the highest price the auction has recorded this year.
A 50 kilogramme bag of coffee traded at sh.21,522 up from sh. 17,748 that was registered in the previous sales.
The increase in prices is as a result of good quality coffee from central Kenya that is produced by farmers according to Nairobi Coffee Exchange chief officer Daniel Mbithi.
“We are now getting new crop that is of higher quality, compared to what we have been getting before, this is the main reason the prices have gone up,” said Mr Mbithi.
Mbithi, however, said that one of the biggest challenges is that the volumes have not picked up enough as the wet weather resulting from the ongoing rains that are witnessed in the country has slowed down the proper drying of beans which has led them not to realize the expected volumes from the main crop.
He further revealed that the quality of coffee offered for sale this week’s auction increased to 144,000 kilograms compared to last week’s 83,000.
Last month, the weekly auction took a break as volumes decreased after the main crop from Eastern Kenya dried up in order to enable agents accrue the required volumes to warranty trade.
Although Kenya is a small scale producer of coffee compared to other countries like Brazil, its speciality beans are sought after by global roasters who blend it with coffee from other regions in the world.
Article by Shillah Mwadosho.