Best of Congo Cooperatives returns with 34 traceable coffee lots
34 traceable Congo microlots, including fully washed, natural and anaerobic lots, head toward a July 2 results date and late-summer auction. Cacao joins the sale for the first time.
34 traceable arabica microlots from North and South Kivu have returned to the specialty spotlight, with fully washed, natural and anaerobic lots all in the mix for buyers chasing cup quality and clear origin data. Best of Congo Cooperatives has come back for a third edition, and the 2026 program adds cacao for the first time, turning the sale into a broader eastern Congo showcase rather than a single-crop competition. Results are due July 2, and the live auction is slated for late August or early September on M-Cultivo.
The catalog is built for roasters and importers who want more than a score sheet. Each lot carries farmer details, plot location, coffee variety and processing method, giving buyers a way to sort the coffees by both sensory path and supply-chain visibility. African Coffee Connect says the 2026 lineup also includes certified Organic, Fairtrade, Rainforest Alliance and EUDR-compliant coffees, alongside a push to keep more women-led farmer groups in the frame. The organization says the program now spans four continents, underscoring how far the Congo story has moved from a regional competition toward an international buying event.
That shift is rooted in what the previous editions already proved. The 2025 competition drew 20 producer cooperatives and microlots ranging from six to 59 bags, and multiple coffees topped 88 points. That year’s event ran simultaneously in Goma and New York City, with a public tasting at Counter Culture Coffee in Lower Manhattan, after the inaugural 2024 edition opened in Goma and London. In London this year, 20 industry experts are set to judge the lots, including buyers from Harrods, Skylark Coffee, Lucid Coffee Roasters, Dark Woods Coffee and Union Handroasted at Pact Coffee’s headquarters.
The commercial push lands against a difficult backdrop in eastern Congo. Muungano Cooperative was among the groups hit when renewed M23 advances around Lake Kivu displaced about 1,000 of its roughly 4,100 members, a reminder of the pressure facing farmers behind these coffees. Richard Hide of African Coffee Connect called the coffees “life changing” for producers under severe stress, and that is the real pitch behind Best of Congo Cooperatives: a rare chance to buy traceable Congo lots that carry both a cup profile and a verifiable chain of origin.
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