What is the Cup of Excellence (CoE) is a common question that we get asked all the time from our customers. People want to know, why we care about the CoE. Why do we support it? Well it is very easy. It matches perfectly to our philosophy, to our values and to our vision and mission.
So what is the Cup of Excellence?
The Cup of Excellence is a yearly competition that is held in various countries around the world to find and award the best coffees produced in those countries. It is organized by a non profit organization called the Alliance for Coffee Excellence and started in 1999 with the first competition in Brazil.
Only the best coffees can participate and during the course of the competition each coffee is tested at least five times. Out of the about 300 different coffees that enter per each country only about 35 make it to the final round and only the top ten will make it to the final. What that means during the competition in each country there will be about 9000 cups of coffee that will be analyzed.
The final winners are then awarded the Cup of Excellence and the coffee is sold through an internet auction to the highest bidder. The coffee growers will get more than 80% of the final auction price and the entire process if fully transparent to the farmers.
Why is the Cup of Excellence important for the coffee industry?
The Cup of Excellence has changed and shaped the Specialty Coffee industry and brought it to a new level. There have been many success stories on how it has benefited the farmers and the change it has made to their lives, their families and their communities.
The Cup of Excellence truly works for the producers and it also for the roasters as it has allowed to discover exemplary coffees that may have remained undiscovered and unrewarded if the Cup of Excellence would not have existed.
The competition helps farmers who put a great detail of attention into the work of coffee growing, harvesting and processing their coffees and will reward them for their exemplary work with a price they will not achieve in any other way on the market. The financial rewards these coffees achieve at the auction are life changing for the farmers, their families and the communities they live in.
The Cup of Excellence program is an exceptional opportunity and honor for Tico Coffee Roasters to participate at an international level
Tico Coffee Roasters is a proud member of this truly unique program and it is testament to our passion for great coffee, personal development and ongoing investment in procurement, training and roasting.
As part of the Cup of Excellence program, our Head of Roasting and Quality, Thomas Goepel, is an international jury member and has travelled and cupped in the Costa Rica Cup of Excellence in 2013, the Guatemala Cup of Excellence in 2014, and is on its way to the 2015 Cup of Excellence in Colombia.
The Cup of Excellence program and trademark are owned and managed by the Alliance for Coffee Excellence Inc. (ACE), a US-based non-profit organization.