"Cup of Excellence" Coffee. Does anyone serve it?

Luc

Hi all,

Just been reading up about the "Cup of Excellence" Competition in South America and am wondering:

1. Does anyone serve the winning coffees from South America?

2. If so, where?

3. Does Australia have a similar competition?
I presume there are, if so what's the one competition Australia growers try and win?

I think the Cup of Excellence Program is a great idea, agree?

Okay thanks

EJ

Hi Yes Cup of Excellence coffees are served in Australia in various places but they are hard to come by because of the expense. I know that from last year's competition a co-op of Australian Roasters bought a lot through their broker and split it when it got to Australia. Usually after the Auction online the results of who purchased which lot is posted on the C of E website. Australia is looking at putting together a similar programme, but becasue the C of E is primarily about rewarding farmers directly a fair price for good quality coffee there are other countries in the world where the farmers are much worse off, thus the focus is there. Also the competition is run out of the USA so their focus in on South America. It is a great programme. I was lucky enough to be invited as a judge to various competitions and not only was the coffee excellent, the insight and experience of first hand production and living conditions was a real eye opener. Unfortunately, due to the expense of shipping smaller quantities into Australia (most of the auction lots are small numbers of bags not full container loads) it is not so readily available, but over the last 5 years it has become more promenent amongst Australian roasters and brokers, so hopefully it may get more air play here. It is really popular in Japan, Europe and the USA where the programme has been excellent for both the farmers and the roasters. Hope this helps. If you want more info you can email me :-)