Coffee sold at the 2020 Ethiopia Cup of Excellence (COE) scored $1,348,690, topping the previously held record of $830,245 in 2011 in El Salvador. The Ethiopia auction, however, had 28 lots for sale, against El Salvador's 42, which contributed to this auction's record-high average price of $28 per pound of coffee. The top-scoring coffee at the auction amassed $185.10 per pound or $407 per kilogram. This stands to be the highest price ever for Ethiopian coffee, the Alliance for Coffee Excellence (ACE) relates. Maruyama Coffee Co, a Japanese corporation, purchased half of the lot, along with its buying group which consists of Saza Coffee, Cometeer, Goodboybob Coffee, Difference Coffee, and Harrods. The other half of the lot was purchased by Sarutahiko Coffee Inc, another Japanese firm. Nigusie Gemeda, who produced the coffee in the Sidama region of Ethiopia, saying he has been a coffee farmer for long, added he is "just learning the value of our coffee. I am so happy with th