Fifth instalment announced for Best of Yemen Private Collection Auction

Qima Coffee and the Alliance for Coffee Excellence (ACE) have announced plans to host the fifth instalment of the popular Best of Yemen auction series. This year’s instalment of the auction programme will be centered around the theme of “Cultivating Innovation,” and the auction will be used as a platform to highlight the critical role of innovation and R&D in developing a sustainable coffee sector and improving lives and livelihoods.

ACE’s Private Collection Auction was established as part of the organisation’s mission of rewarding exemplary coffee farmers and supporting farmer inclusion and access to premium markets. “We’re very proud to be working with Qima on this unique programme. This is the fifth year of our partnership and it’s been incredible to see this programme go from strength to strength year on year. The Best of Yemen is not only honouring the incredible work of Yemeni coffee farmers, but also helping to make a positive change to Yemen’s most vulnerable communities and we are glad to be part of the process,” Cup of Excellence auction manager, Kathia Lopez stated.

The Best of Yemen, considered Yemen’s largest and most successful auction series, was launched by Qima Coffee and ACE with the aim of establishing Yemen’s first national private auction and facilitating market access for Yemen’s entire coffee farming community. The programme is open to all, and was developed as a platform for any coffee farmer in Yemen to submit coffees for participation with equal opportunity to have their coffees amongst the winning lots.

Through this year’s theme of “Cultivating Innovation,” the auction will aim to showcase and raise awareness on the R&D work Qima Coffee and its partners have been conducting over the last several years, and the potential impact of this work on Yemen’s coffee sector and farmer livelihoods.

Founder and CEO of Qima Coffee, Faris Sheibani, states: “For the last several years, Qima has been investing heavily into targeted Research and Development programmes with the aim of delivering more value to Yemeni coffee farmers and Yemen’s coffee sector at large. Our R&D programme is holistic in its approach and was designed with impact in mind – focusing on farm-level yield and productivity, post harvest processing, genetics, and technology enabled traceability. For the Best of Yemen 2023, we are taking the opportunity to highlight and celebrate the innovation coming out of Yemen’s coffee industry, and the impact it’s had on farmer lives and livelihoods. And as has been the case with our previous Best of Yemen auctions, we’ll be donating 10% of our auction proceeds to the Qima Foundation, with this year’s donation going to fund R&D programmes supporting Yemen’s coffee sector.”

Plans are underway for the auction to go live on 8 August 2023.  For more information on the auction and sample sets, visit the website.

Related content

Leave a reply

Tea & Coffee Trade Journal