Value of Kenyan coffee falls 12 percent as season ends
A worker spreads parchment on the drying table at Muthuthini coffee factory in Nyeri this month.
What you need to know:
- The decline has been attributed to low quality coffee in the market during the auction.
Subsequently, Kenya’s premium coffee recorded a decline in value during the sale with the price per bag dipping from Sh32,832 to Sh31,536 in the current sale.
The value of Kenya’s coffee dropped 12 percent as the season came to an end last week, marking one of the biggest declines to be registered this year.
A market report from the Nairobi Coffee Exchange indicates that a bag on average earned Sh22,032 in the latest sale, down from Sh24,732 previously.
The decline has been attributed to low quality coffee in the market during the auction.
The coffee season comes to an end in September, with the new crop year starting in October ahead of the main season that starts around November.
“The prices went down on account of lower quality that was offered at the auction in the latest sale,” said NCE.
Subsequently, Kenya’s premium coffee recorded a decline in value during the sale with the price per bag dipping from Sh32,832 to Sh31,536 in the current sale.
Good quality coffee
NCE is optimistic that the price of the commodity will pick up next week as they expect some good quality at the trading on Tuesday.
Currently, the auction is getting beans from parts of eastern and western Kenya with the main crop season from central expected to hit the market starting next month. Coffee prices have been oscillating in the past season with earnings dropping by Sh2.4 billion in eight months to August compared with the same time last year as the sector reeled from the effects of Covid-19.
Kenyan coffee production has been declining from a high of 130,000 tonnes realised in the late 80s to the current 40,000 tonnes.
Majority of smallholder coffee farmers are producing less than two kilogrammes per tree per year against an annual potential of 35 kilogrammes
