Panama’s annual Best of Panama coffee auction generated more than $3 million in sales, with one 15-kilogram lot purchased for $270,060.
The international online auction began on September 23 and concluded the following afternoon after 19 hours and 30 minutes of bidding. Fifty lots containing a combined 750 kilograms of green coffee sold for $3,041,940.
The auction platform recorded 24,544 bids and a weighted average price of $4,055.92 per kilogram. Forty of the lots were Geisha coffees, while the remaining 10 represented other specialty varieties.
The highest price went to Elida Geisha Torre, a washed Geisha produced by Lamastus Family Estates in Chiriquí. The coffee, which received 96.25 points in the Best of Panama competition, sold for $18,004 per kilogram. Chinese e-commerce company JD.com acquired the lot, according to the official auction results.
Lérida Waterfall Geisha Natural ranked second at $13,505 per kilogram, giving its 15-kilogram lot a value of $202,575. Hacienda La Esmeralda Geisha Natural followed at $10,024 per kilogram, or $150,360 for the lot.
Together, the three highest-priced coffees generated $622,995, representing slightly more than one-fifth of the auction’s total value.
Although the Elida lot commanded the highest price this year, it did not establish a new world record. That distinction remains with a Hacienda La Esmeralda washed Geisha sold at the 2025 Best of Panama auction for $30,204 per kilogram.
The broader 2026 result was nevertheless stronger. Total sales increased despite the auction offering less coffee than in 2025, while all 40 Geisha lots sold for at least $1,500 per kilogram.
The results reinforce Panama’s position in the international market for rare specialty coffee. Rather than competing with major producers on volume, farms in Boquete and Tierras Altas have built a high-value export industry around small lots, exacting production methods and demand from specialist buyers.
Sources: Best of Panama
