- Coffee sales close the season with most lots finding buyers
- A small group of buyers accounts for much of the trading activity
- Prices vary across sellers, certificates and coffee grades
Coffee worth Ksh 839 million (USD 6.48 million) changed hands at the Nairobi Coffee Exchange (NCE) on September 29. Sale 42 wrapped up the 2025/2026 season, and buyers left with 17,765 bags.
Almost nothing went back to the stores. Of the 17,849 bags offered, only 84 found no taker. When the results sheet was printed, only 67 lots were confirmed, which is about one in every twenty bags and 6 percent of the value.
Spread across all the coffee sold, each bag earned roughly Ksh 47,000. In dollar terms, the average landed at USD 294 per bag.
For growers, the price translates into about Ksh 762 for every kilo of clean coffee. Dividing that by the 6.5 conversion ratio puts cherry at roughly Ksh 117 a kilo.
Buying power sat with a small group. Ibero Kenya spent the most, taking 35 percent of the value, or about Ksh 294 million. Louis Dreyfus came next at 13 percent, then Kenyacof at 12 percent. C. Dorman and Taylor Winch each held 11 percent.
Add those five up and they account for 82 percent of the day’s business, close to Ksh 688 million. At the opposite end, Libro East Africa bought three bags of PB. That small order shows the floor still has space for tiny buyers.
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Prices varied sharply by broker, and the split explains why the overall average was soft. Six sellers averaged below USD 300. CEBBA was lowest at USD 252 on 1,255 bags. Ahadi followed at USD 269 on 319 bags. New Kenya Planters Cooperative Union (New KPCU) and Kirinyaga Slopes both averaged USD 276, on 3,918 and 1,181 bags. Alliance Berries managed USD 283 on 3,806 bags, and Minnesota reached USD 296 on 641 bags.
Notably, this group carried the bulk of the coffee. Together, it moved about 11,100 bags, or roughly 62 percent of the sale. Volume therefore worked against price.
Two brokers sat in the middle. KCCEMA averaged USD 306 on 1,061 bags. United Eastern Kenya reached USD 310 on 675 bags.
The best returns went to sellers with smaller lots. Nandi Coffee Union topped the day at USD 331, although it sold only 414 bags. Caffora reached USD 329 on 682 bags. Kipkelion Union sold 1,579 bags at USD 327. Mt. Elgon averaged USD 326 on 791 bags, Kinya USD 324 on 510 bags, and Meru County USD 323 on 1,017 bags.
Certified coffee made up 26 percent of the volume. Those lots averaged USD 296, against USD 294 for the rest. That is a gap of under 1 percent, compared with about 4 percent at Sale 33.
Results depended on the grade, however. Certified AA and UG1 carried a premium near 5 percent. On the other hand, certified T lots sold 10 percent below their uncertified peers, and MH lots 18 percent below.
AB dominated the catalogue with 39 percent of the volume, averaging USD 332. AA accounted for 14 percent and edged higher at USD 334. Grade C held 17 percent but lagged at USD 298. The highest price of the sale was USD 375, paid for a Karatu AA lot.
By Benedict Aoya
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