2008 Panama Esmeralda Special Auction

[James Hoffmann]

Congrats to Sweetmarias and Stumptown on the big lots. Will you ever know the identity of the mysterious bidder that drove the price so high?

[Mark Prince]

I'm betting it's a fellow far across the sea, since his company's name isn't in any of the other bids.

Mark

[SL28ave]

*kicking myself* for not finding a way to cup these coffees.

Aleco, will Stumptown's lots be available online? (I don't have a roaster these days, Tom.)

-Peter

[Alistair Durie]

Michaele Weissman writes about the Panama auction on her blog, including some discussion with Rachel Petersen.

[Rachel Peterson]

I want to drop a note of appreciation to all of you who have commented and congratulated us on the auction.
Aleco and Tom, a huge thank you!
Aleco was in Panama before the 2007 Best of Panama and helped us choose which lot we would submit to the Best of Panama 2007 auction. Of course, it came from what would be the equivalent to Batch 2.
To all of the bidders, thanks so much for participating. I know the whole system was confusing at first, the division of batches and lots, but everyone got the idea pretty quickly. I apologize for the length of the auction...
In terms of how each buyer differentiates (in marketing) the lots, there are no restrictions. The buyers will be listed on our webpage along with the average price per pound and the batch number of the auction lot that they bought. The auction was public and so are the results.
Most of the auction coffee is being shipped this week and next. I'm happy to answer any questions if people have any...
Rachel

[Jeff Jassmond]

Rachel-

Congratulations on a successful auction. It was an honor getting to walk your farm with Daniel and Aleco in January. You are stewards of a beautiful place and you produce amazing coffee.

Please understand that the following is asked with complete confidence that everything you and your family did with the auction was on the up and up. Having said that, I am curious about the transparency of the system, as exemplified by bidder #959. Is there a way to answer concerns about anonymous bidders driving up a lot, yet not showing any apparent good faith in their actions? I'm sure this has been addressed directly with the relevant parties, but as an outside observer it raises some questions for me.

Having never participated in an auction I'm curious what the arguments against revealing bidder identities, even those who did not win, after the auction is closed would be?

Thanks,
Jeff Jassmond
Occasional Cupper
Pleasantly Unemployed.

[Rachel Peterson]

Having never participated in an auction I'm curious what the arguments against revealing bidder identities, even those who did not win, after the auction is closed would be?

Although I don't know the original reasoning behind not revealing the names of unsuccessful bidders (other than to say that's just how it's always been done) I can take a guess. Most bidders have a maximum bid that they've determined before the auction starts, and I think that the reason behind not revealing the identity of the unsuccessful bidder is that some companies want to keep their budget private.
I do entirely understand your question regarding transparency, but, at least on this occasion, these were the rules of the game.