Europe and Japan dominate buying…

European buyers showed great interest in the winning Cup of Excellence lots, buying all but two of the thirty lots up for auction May 15, 2008.
The majority of this year’s winning Costa Rica Cup of Excellence® coffees will head for Europe and Japan, confirming the broad appeal of these distinctive Costa Rica coffees, with the remaining two heading to the U.S.
Wataru & Co
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. Ltd. of Japan purchased the winning lot from the Importadora Latinamericana farm in Lourdes de Cirri de Naranjo for a price of $15.10. Wataru was one of several buyers who purchased multiple lots, including Kaffebrenneriet from Norway, and Kaffeeroesterei from Germany. Two U.S. buyers, Coffee Bean International and Sweet Maria’s Coffee, purchased the El Alto and Santa Lucia lots respectively.
“We are extremely excited with the support for this auction,” says Susie Spindler, executive director of Alliance for Coffee Excellence, Inc., which owns and manages the Cup of Excellence program. The auction results will go a long way to send the message to the small Costa Rica farmer that quality does pay and that there is an appreciation for the uniqueness of the coffees and the processing.”
In recent years, the Costa Rica coffee industry has been focusing on smaller farmers who produce higher quality coffees that showcase the unique flavor nuances that hail from different areas of production. Micro mills are rapidly becoming an integral part of the Costa Rican coffee industry, and the Cup of Excellence program has been successful in uncovering the unique coffees, which historically would have been used in a blended coffee.
“This year’s auction results showcase the new trend in Costa Rica,” explains Arnoldo Leiva, president of the Board of the Specialty Coffee Association of Costa Rica. “Many of these lots come from micro mills built over the past five years. There is no doubt that Costa Rica producers are moving to the next step in quality offering unique cup characteristics, and the Cup of Excellence program has helped to discover these cups and also find them niches that reward outstanding quality.”
Leiva is assured that the successful results of this year’s competition and auction will we a wonderful incentive for more farmers to participate next year.
The Costa Rica auction is the first of the 2008 Central American program for the Cup of Excellence. Upcoming Central American auctions include Nicaragua, May 29; El Salvador, June 5; and Honduras, July 8.
Since it’s beginnings in 1999, the Cup of Excellence® program has hosted programs in Brazil, Nicaragua, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica, Bolivia and Colombia . The Cup of Excellence program is managed by the non-profit Alliance for Coffee Excellence, Inc, The state of the art Cup of Excellence auction has been managed in partnership with CommoditiesOne, a leading software development firm since 2002.
For more information about the Cup of Excellence program, to become a member log on to www.cupofexcellence.org