Cup of Excellence (CoE) has announced a year-long celebration of the 25th anniversary of the first competition and online coffee auction will begin during Specialty Coffee Expo in Chicago, United States from 12 to 14 April.
“Thinking back over the years, it is truly amazing the vast number of international and national cuppers that have all worked together using the same scoring protocols,” says Erwin Mierisch, The Executive Director of CoE and Alliance For Coffee Excellence.
“Still the most stringent competition ever created for coffee or maybe any agricultural product, a common vocabulary for quality and a strict set of sample preparation techniques are now the norm for many in the industry.”
Several CoE presentations and seminars over the conference weekend will focus on its impact in coffee producing countries, coffee quality, specific winning farmers and how roasters have successfully sold these coffees at a higher price.
With almost 200 competitions held to date, tens of thousands of coffees have been entered by farmers in 16 countries. These coffees have been scored by several thousand experienced national and international jurors with only the very few coffees good enough to carry the name.
The 5254 coffee lots that have won and been sold at auction have grossed over US$80 million, most of which has been returned to these winning farmers. The auction results though are a drop in the bucket when compared to the indirect impact that the competition has brought to its partner countries. Farmer-roaster relationships, higher premiums, regional recognition and greater overall quality have all come about through the CoE.
For more information, visit cupofexcellence.org
