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Nairobi Coffee Exchange goes for KOSMOS due to corona crisis
Nairobi Coffee Exchange (NCE) has decided to replace their current auction system with KOSMOS, Aucxis’ standard stand-alone sales and information system. By this move, they fully commit to remote buying.
The decision to do so gained momentum because NCE had to close the physical auction room because of the corona virus. In the absence of a remote buying system, the sale of coffee therefore became problematic.
The corona crisis has caused an accelerated digitisation. NCE assumes that, even after the crisis, more coffee will be auctioned and sold remotely.
The good relationship between Aucxis and the Kenyan Nairobi Coffee Exchange (NCE) goes back many years. In 1998, we delivered the first electronic auction system that served faithfully for 20 years as the instrument for pricing Kenyan coffee. In 2018, Aucxis modernized this system with state-of-the-art software and the very latest LED technology, which significantly accelerated the sales process. At that time, NCE already saw a future in remote buying in the coffee market.
“By choosing for KOSMOS, Nairobi Coffee Exchange meets the rapidly evolving need for digitization in the auction world at one go.”
Patrick Bauwens, Business Unit Manager E-Trade & Process Control
In order to buy in real time on the clock, the remote buyers simply connect to KOSMOS in the cloud using their standard PC. NCE for its part, can perfectly prepare the entire sales catalogue in KOSMOS. Of course, growers and buyers can still call up individual reports via the information portal. In KOSMOS, the possibilities in terms of personal and general reports for the different user groups are even significantly expanded compared to the previous system.
‘Falling/rising’ price mechanism
Given the fact that NCE is the first coffee auction worldwide to choose for KOSMOS, Aucxis was faced with an important software modification to roll out the first phase of this project. Until now, KOSMOS only supported the ‘falling price’ mechanism that is used as standard for the sale of agricultural products such as flowers, fruit and vegetables. Coffee, however, is auctioned according to the ‘falling/rising’ principle. In this case, the clock turns downwards at a set speed until someone presses the button. Contrary to the Dutch auction, no transaction is concluded at that time, but a timeline – visualized by 3 dots – starts to run during a preset time. If one or more buyers also press their buy button before the end of the timeline, the price will go up at a set time interval until only one bidder remains.
KOSMOS as a boost for growth in the coffee sector
Within a few weeks, Aucxis will start up the standard KOSMOS platform with rising clock for 1 clock and 150 buyers. Since KOSMOS can be seamlessly linked to the already existing Aucxis auction infrastructure – in the case of Nairobi an auction room with 48 DI push buttons and an LED wall – we will carry out this work when the corona virus is under control and it is safe to travel there again for installation.
Daniel Mbithi, Executive Officer NCE: “90% of Kenyan coffee is sold through Nairobi Coffee Exchange. Our goal is to manage the coffee industry’s activities in an efficient, prudent and professional manner. With the implementation of KOSMOS, we meet our mission statement to offer a transparent, competitive, secure and innovative sales system to stimulate growth in the sector.”