An inaugural online auction for Ugandan specialty coffee has concluded with a top lot selling for a milestone price of US$350.02 per kilogram. The auction, organized by producer group Mountain Harvest and platform partner M-Cultivo, featured coffees from Uganda's Rwenzori and Mount Elgon regions, signaling a new benchmark for the country's high-end specialty offerings.
The record-setting coffee was a natural-process Gesha from Rwenzori Estate Farm. According to auction results, the winning bid was placed by the Chinese company CHG. The event, titled the Paradigm Shift auction, attracted significant international interest, generating over 1,000 bids and achieving a weighted average price of $24.32 per kilogram across all lots sold.
This result highlights the growing global demand for unique micro-lots from Uganda, an origin increasingly recognized for its quality potential. The successful auction demonstrates a viable pathway for producers to gain price discovery and direct access to international buyers willing to pay significant premiums for exceptional quality and differentiated profiles, particularly from emerging specialty coffee markets in Asia.