Q. What time will the auction be held?

A. Please join us for this very special event on 11th July 2023 at 9am BST (London) which is also:

• Los Angeles, CA, USA - 01:00am
• New York, NY, USA - 04:00am
• London, United Kingdom - 09:00am
• Jakarta, Indonesia – 15:00pm
• Shanghai, China – 16:00pm
• Tokyo, Japan – 17:00pm
• Sydney, Australia – 18:00pm

Q. Who can bid?

A. You must register with us and be approved prior to bidding in the auction. In theory, any approved company can participate:

• Roasting companies are encouraged to place bids individually or through our selected trading partners.
• Individual bidders are recommended to place bids through our trading partners. Group Bidding is encouraged and this is how your group of micro-roasters can get access to our world class and unique coffee lots.
• Importing companies are specifically invited to participate in the Pride of Gesha. Send us an email to inquire about our international program for trading partners.

Q. How does the auction work?

A. The most important part of any auction is the bidding. In a traditional auction, the lots are auctioned one lot at a time. Bids are placed, the bidding price increases until eventually the highest bid is placed, and no more bids are placed. The bidder with the highest bid wins the lot.

Specialty coffee auctions are different; they work as a ‘Helmsman’ style auction also known as ‘multi-unit. It works like this:

• Open bidding starts and continues on all lots simultaneously until each and every lot has received an initial bid.
• As soon as each lot has received a bid, the auction clock for each lot, starts ticking down from 3 minutes towards zero.
• Every time a bid is placed, the clock resets to 3 minutes remaining.
• Once the clock reaches zero, the auction is over and the winners are declared.

This means the full value is achieved for each and every coffee in the auction. This is because the outcome for each coffee is tied to the outcome of the auction as a whole. The more people bid, the more the coffees remain available across the whole auction. This means the producers will receive good value for their coffee and we will all contribute to the sustainability of their farming.

Q. What is the Opening Bid?

A. The auction organizers will start the auction at an Opening Bid price, which is a price per lb/pound. Each lot will show the quantity within the lot (in both number of bags and pounds) and the total price on the lot listing before the auction will reflect the opening price per pound multiplied by the number of pounds for that given lot. If the auction doesn't exceed this level, then the organizers maintain the right to withdraw that lot from the auction. The reserved prices for the Pride of Gesha 2023 auction (the 7th edition of the Gesha Village Estate auction) are US$20 per pound.

Q. What is the size of the Auction Lots?

A. The auction lots of the 2023 Pride of Gesha auction have a minimum lot size of 45 kgs and a maximum size of 120 kgs. For more information about the lots and samples, please log in and visit the Auction Overview information.

Q. How is the coffee packaged?

A. All coffee is packaged in hermetically sealed vacuum bags. We package 2 bags of 15 kgs of green beans per carton. Each carton has 30 kgs of green beans net. Over the past year, we have made a lot of progress with the selection of our packaging material. If you want to know more, please send us an email

Q. How is the coffee processed and stored?  

A. All coffee lots have been processed at Gesha Village Coffee Estate and prepared for this auction in collaboration with our processing partners in Ethiopia. All auction lots are stored in GrainPro and vacuum bags in optimum warehouse conditions. 

Q. Where do you ship from and to?

A. All coffee will be shipped from Addis Ababa, via air or sea freight. The cost for shipping is not included. The shipping terms are FOB Addis Ababa airport (air) or FOB our warehouse in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. We have negotiated favorable rates with DHL and various airlines.

Q. How do I pay?

A. Payment must be made via bank wire transfer within 10 days after the auction. If payment is not received on time, then the coffee will be sold to other bidders.

Q. What is your Quality Control & Arbitration?

A. The conditions and regulations of the Specialty Coffee Association (formerly known as SCAA) prevail for this auction. We follow the strictest possible protocols for the preparation and classification of our coffee to prepare the coffee to a "Zero Defect" standard. In case of disputes, we refer to the arbitration rules of the SCA. 

Q. What is the Harvest Timeline?

A. All coffee lots of the 2023 Pride of Gesha auction were harvested and processed between November 2022 and March 2023. Please review our Auction Lot Report for more details.

The owners and founders of Gesha Village Estate are Rachel Samuel & Adam Overton and Willem Boot. For the planning and development of the farm, we thank the valuable assistance by the Ethiopian government and by individuals like our Farm Manager Akalu Woubshet, Quality Control Manager Bahailu Tamirat, Aberra Tesfaye, Rahel Tsegaye and Tewodros Abate.

Q. What is the export process from Ethiopia?

A. Ethiopia utilizes very strict export formalities for the trading and logistics of coffee lots. Gesha Village Estate has a permit that allows us, like other Ethiopian coffee estates, to sell and export our coffee directly to international importers and roasters.  We have been using the services of the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange (ECX) for the quality inspection of all our coffee lots. We honor and salute the professionalism and integrity of the ECX quality technicians!

Q. Can you ship to China?

A. The export of Gesha Village Estate coffee to China is possible but it requires an extra set of formalities. Two of our international trading partners can assist you in this process. Please email us for information.