Taiwan Alishan Coffee Beans Fetch Astonishing Price of NT$520,000!

Record-Breaking Auction: Alishan Estate Coffee Sells for 1.18 Million RMB

According to Taiwanese media reports, on May 12th, the largest Alishan Estate Coffee Elite Exchange Competition and Green Bean Matching Conference (auction) in Taiwan's history was held at the Leye Cultural Gathering Place in Alishan Township, Chiayi County, Taiwan Province, attracting experts from across the island to compete for purchases. Among them, the special prize winner in the natural process category—a 5kg bag of natural process coffee beans from Zouzhuyuan—was sold at an astonishing price of 520,000 New Taiwan Dollars (approximately 118,000 RMB)!

On May 11th, the 2022 Alishan Estate Coffee Elite Exchange Competition and Green Bean Matching Conference began its evaluation session. All coffee beans entered in this competition were grown on Alishan Mountain. The green beans were divided into washed, natural, honey process, and Geisha categories based on different processing methods. Participants needed to provide both parchment and hulled beans, which were uniformly roasted by the organizers.

After complete roasting, 15 Q-Graders certified by the Coffee Quality Institute (CQI), a partner organization of the Specialty Coffee Association, conducted sensory evaluations. The scoring standards adopted the international evaluation system, using SCA International Coffee Organization cupping forms for scoring. Only specialty coffee scoring 80 points or above had the opportunity to participate in the auction.

After the sensory evaluation, specialty coffee green beans scoring above 80 points were classified into special prize, first prize, gold award, and silver award categories based on processing method and score, then put up for competitive auction the following day.

Buyers decided on their preferred coffee bean numbers through sensory evaluation of the auction beans. During the auction segment, the special prize winner from the natural process category—Zouzhuyuan's coffee beans from Taiwan—became the focus of the entire event. The original starting price of 60,000 New Taiwan Dollars per 5kg soared to 400,000 New Taiwan Dollars per 5kg, but at this point, there were still two groups bidding...

After another round of bidding, Taiwan Travel Service Company - Lion Group finally won the bid at 520,000 New Taiwan Dollars (approximately 118,000 RMB), breaking the previous record of 430,000 New Taiwan Dollars per 5kg and also setting a new record for all types of Taiwan coffee bean auctions...

How High is This Price?

Currently, the most expensive coffee beans on the market are probably the red label Geisha coffee beans from Panama's Hacienda La Esmeralda that compete in the Best of Panama (BOP) competition each year, costing around 20,000+ RMB per kilogram, with 5 kilograms costing over 110,000-120,000 RMB...

This year's auction-winning natural process coffee beans at this sky-high price are not even of the Geisha variety! Yet the price matches that of top-tier Geisha coffee beans! (Although theoretically such comparisons shouldn't be made... I couldn't resist making a brief comparison). So what was the price for this year's special prize winner in the Geisha category? 320,000 New Taiwan Dollars (approximately 73,000 RMB) per 5kg! The special prize in the washed category was 100,000 New Taiwan Dollars per 5kg, and the honey process special prize was 50,000 New Taiwan Dollars per 5kg...

Regarding this year's winning bid price, the person in charge of Zouzhuyuan didn't seem surprised, as last year's record of 430,000 New Taiwan Dollars (approximately 97,000 RMB) per 5kg was also from their estate, and the bidder was also Lion Group... The group's负责人 stated that the group provides the highest quality products and services to passengers on Taiwan Railway's "Mingrihao" sightseeing train and other operational services. Last year, they successfully bid for Alishan coffee for passengers to taste and received unanimous praise, so they decided to bid and order again this year.

The person in charge of Zouzhuyuan also stated that in recent years, foreign coffee green bean prices have soared, shipping costs are very high, and waiting times are very long, so the freshness and quality of green beans have declined after being shipped to Taiwan. Meanwhile, Alishan coffee cultivation techniques have continuously improved in recent years, and the coffee beans can achieve specialty quality. The industry has also recognized the business opportunities with high-end consumers, no longer seeking far and wide, but instead turning their attention to locally grown Taiwanese coffee.

"Wordsmith, what are your thoughts after reading this?" - Suddenly, the cup of non-auction-level Hacienda La Esmeralda red label Geisha in hand smelled even more fragrant!

Image source: Internet

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