Chocoa will host the world’s first live auction of International Cocoa Award winning cocoa beans from the Cocoa of Excellence (CoEx) Program on Friday February 23rd.
The auction will feature three lots:
- Madagascar, Mava Sa, Ferme D’ottange, CoEx 2017 Code 118, physical lot awarded, 2017 ICA
- Tanzania, Kokoa Kamali, CoEx 2017 Code 058, 2017 ICA producer, different lot same harvest year.
- Colombia, Tumaco, Red Cacaotera, CoEx 2015 Code 059, winner of a 2015 ICA, 2017 harvest.
The auction will be for a minimum of one bag and a maximum of three bags. All of the cocoa is in physical inventory in The Netherlands. Each lot has a reserve price and any money received above the reserve price will be delivered to the growers of the beans.
This is an event I have been advocating for since becoming involved with Chocoa five years ago and I am thrilled that it is finally happening. I encourage every chocolate maker, large or small, to get involved in this historic auction – especially in person if you’re going to be there.
If you can’t be there I will be happy to act as your agent in the auction, as long as you agree to earmark some of the proceeds of sales from whatever is made from the beans to the growers.
The world’s oldest stock exchange was founded in Amsterdam in the early 1600s to fund much of the Dutch exploration of the new world. The original building, Beurs van Hendrick de Keyser, was located not far from the current building, the Beurs van Berlage, which as constructed in the late 1800s. Cocoa was traded on the exchange there through the 1970s, making this auction the first live auction of cocoa in the Beurs in 50 years, connecting the rich history of the exchanges to one potential future for cocoa.