LAVRAS, Brazil – The Alliance for Coffee Excellence (ACE) and its flagship program Cup of Excellence (COE) were honored in a celebration recognizing the 20th anniversary of the now-famous competition and auction program. The multi- level competition has discovered incredible coffees, micro regions no one knew existed and brought international fame to individual farmers.
While Brazil is the longest running program to date, COE has been established in multiple coffee producing countries. Bidders have paid up to $300lb. resulting in 60 million dollars to winning farmers from the auctions.
“The program is still in its infancy given the long history of coffee growing,” indicated Darrin Daniel ACE’s Executive Director.
“The 20th Anniversary reminds us of all of the impact this work has had in many countries, but we are nowhere finished. The competition has just begun to scratch the surface of possibilities in flavor, quality and premiums. Our newest partner, Ethiopia, the birthplace of coffee launches in 2020 and promises to push the quality envelope even further.”
Susie Spindler, founder and now advisor explained that, “the so-called ‘Olympics of Coffee’ fundamentally changed the specialty coffee industry.
“Not only has this program busted through the top price barrier for rare and hand-crafted coffees but it pushed enough transparency into the distribution system that roasters from around the globe are able to build long term buying relationships with coffee farmers. Almost any consumer buying farm identified coffee owes this to the Cup of Excellence program,”
Nolan Hirte, owner of Proud Mary, a unique roaster/retailer with locations in Melbourne, Australia and Portland Oregon articulated, “It has been such an incredible experience to be a part of this Brazil international jury. Hearing the founders’ stories of how it began and the challenges they had to overcome to even be heard is amazing. We don’t realize that the pioneers before us shaped our future. To that we owe so much. I am forever grateful and will continue to challenge and push this industry to grow and change for the better.”
The largest impact has been a unique design that builds a bridge between high quality buyers and high quality farmers resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue for farmers and greater financial success for retailers whose customers demand the best. The competition has benefited from over 4,500 jurors hailing from every continent and has created a shared common language for great coffees.
NGOs, government agencies, and universities have studied the Cup of Excellence structure and mission to further their own economic development of coffee and other specialized agricultural products.
About Alliance for Coffee Excellence & Cup of Excellence
The Alliance for Coffee Excellence is a non-profit global membership organization dedicated to advancing excellence in coffee. With members and supporters from over 50 countries it is unmatched in its focus on quality discovery, education, farmer premiums and transparency. The Cup of Excellence competition has been executed in Brazil, Guatemala, Nicaragua, El Salvador Honduras, Colombia, Costa Rica, Bolivia, Rwanda, Burundi, Mexico and Peru with plans for 2020 programs in Ethiopia and Ecuador. For more information log on to allianceforcoffeeexcellence.org.
