Media Release. 18 August 2010. Mossel Bay Tourism

Record Price for Coffee at Mossel Bay Auction

A recent auction in Mossel Bay in aid of a children’s cancer appeal appears to have fetched a record price for coffee.

When master coffee roaster Aharon Baruch – known simply as Baruch to his friends – made a hasty, last-minute decision to donate ten, 200-gram presentation boxes of his own best blend to the Mark ‘E’ Winter Ball’s CANSA for KIDS auction, he expected they’d raise about a thousand rand at best. “But he was ecstatic when I phoned him on Monday with the news that they’d fetched a total of R2,500.00,” said organiser Sue Furness.

Ms. Furness said that her company, Bardin’s Jewelers (which owns Mark ‘E’ Jewelers) has served Mossel Bay since 1895, and that it sponsored the annual Winter Ball “as a way of supporting the community that’s supported us for over a hundred years.

“We decided that CANSA should be our nominated charity because there can’t be a single family that hasn’t been affected by this disease, and last year we teamed up with Mossel Bay’s CANSA Relay For Life – and this year their theme is CANSA For KIDS,” she said.

“R 1,250.00 a kilogram – it has to be a South African record for coffee,” said Baruch, who roasted and ground the coffee at his boutique-sized factory in Mossel Bay’s Voorbaai area.

“We’re delighted but not surprised that Baruch’s coffee raised so much money,” said Mossel Bay Tourism’s director for marketing, Anthony Doherty.

“In a way it reflects the respect and affection that Baruch and Baruch’s Coffee Roastery have earned for themselves both in Mossel Bay and beyond.

“Baruch’s is one of the most unique tourism attractions in the Garden Route.

“It’s the kind of business that really blurs the line between visitors and locals – because everyone loves a great cup of coffee, but not every coffee factory welcomes visitors with Baruch’s brand of warmth and hospitality.

“And it’s certainly the only place I know of that offers barista courses to both professional and amateur coffee makers,” he said.

Baruch said that he used only 100% Arabica coffee blends, and that his business supplied coffee shops, restaurants, and coffee addicts from around the country with coffee machines, coffee grinders, and coffee beans, whilst his factory and was popular for its coffee-making tours and its intimate coffee shop.

And, he said, he was enormously excited when he heard the results of the CANSA for KIDS sale: “It’s wonderful knowing that my products could make difference to a desperately ill child.”

More information: www.visitmosselbay.co.za and www.baruchscoffee.co.za

ENDS

Tags: baruch, baruch's, CANSA, CANSA for KIDS, coffee, mossel bay, roastery