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2008 Brazil Cup Of Excellence® Schedule Announced - Aug 22, 2008
The Brazil Specialty Coffee Association (BSCA) announces with excitement the 2008 Cup of Excellence® schedule, bringing the successful competition back to where it began in 1999. The 2008 competition will mark the ninth Cup of Excellence competition for Brazil, and the first to be held at a BSCA cupping facility in Machado.
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El Salvador Plans Bright Coffee Future With Cup Of Excellence® Results - Jul 3, 2008
As El Salvador coffee farmers prepare to ship their award winning Cup of Excellence® coffees across the globe they are basking in the recognition that their coffees are considered world class by any standard. The country enjoyed a record breaking prices for this years’ Cup of Excellence auction and with the average price per pound well over $5.00lb the country cemented its quality reputation.
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2008 Cup of Excellence® Schedule Released - Mar 30, 2008
The Alliance for Coffee Excellence, Inc. recently released the 2008 Cup of Excellence® schedule, readying the program for another successful year. With the 2008 schedule ACE also welcomes Rwanda to the Cup of Excellence, representing the first time the program has expanded beyond its Central American roots. In all, eight countries will participate in the stringent competition and auction program: Costa Rica, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Rwanda, Colombia and Bolivia.
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London Coffee Importer Is UK’s First Major Supporter of Cup of Excellence® - Jan 16, 2008
Mercanta the Coffee Hunters an innovative cutting edge London based coffee importer has become the first company in 2008 to become a Lifetime member of the Cup of Excellence program. It is also the first company in the United Kingdom to hold this highest membership level. The Cup of Excellence is a competition program that selects world’s finest coffees. “ When I first read about The Cup of Excellence programme in 1999 it seemed to be the ideal platform for the discovery and greater recognition of the very best coffee beans,” indicated Mercanta owner Stephen Hurst. “ We purchased one of the Cup of Excellence award winners in the very first auction for Brazil in 1999 and have purchased coffees ever since- some of them first place winners at record prices.”
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Bolivia’s Cup of Excellence® Auction Prices Thrill Farmers - Nov 16, 2007
Missoula MT. (November 16, 2007) - Juanco Manami Huanco wiped tears from her eyes as she watched the price for her second place coffee rocket to $21.20lb. during the Cup of Excellence internet auction held on November 15th. The auction proceeds will be the most profit she has ever seen from her small 6-hectare farm. The coffee was successfully bought by Stumptown Coffee Roasters in Portland, Oregon and Sweet Maria’s in California.
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Bolivia’s Best Coffee Back in the Spotlight - Nov 8, 2007
After a year hiatus the Cup of Excellence® program returned to Bolivia last month and in a packed bus terminal auditorium in the city of Coroico, 26 awards were handed out to excited farmers. The winning farm owned by two farmers received 11th place in the 2005 contest and moved to first in 2007 due to a concentrated effort on improving quality. Both Mario Mamani Mamami and Raymond Yanarico plan to use the anticipated auction returns to buy more land and reforest their plantation.
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Auction Prices Help Solidify El Salvador as a Leading Producer of Quality - Jul 2, 2007
Five years after El Salvador farmers first rallied around the Cup of Excellence® program, the 2007 auction delivered its highest overall average prices to the 23 winning farmers. With an average price of $5.18 per pound, and a top price of over $15 per pound, the success experienced at auction provides the winning farmers with the financial incentive to continue to focus on the kind of quality that has garnered this small Central American country esteem among top specialty coffee buyers worldwide.
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Cup of Excellence® Guatemala Auction Results Support Quality Focus - Jun 15, 2007
The 2007 Guatemalan Cup of Excellence® Auction brought 19 highly rated coffees to the worldwide stage, giving the farmers another opportunity to showcase the results of their hard work. Nineteen coffees from varying regions around the country were auctioned off to bidders from around the world on June 14, 2007. Each garnered prices well over expectations, thereby providing farmers with further incentive to continue their efforts towards producing quality coffee.
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Successful Nicaragua Auction Jump-Starts 2007 Central American Program - Jun 8, 2007
Wednesday's successful Nicaragua Cup of Excellence Auction has set the stage for the entire 2007 Central American COE program which will also highlight winning coffees from Guatemala, Costa Rica, El Salvador and Honduras. Of the 34 coffees auctioned off on June 6, 2007, 20 brought in a price of more than $5/lb. The total auction value for all coffees sold reached $550,000, with an average price per pound ($6.58) well above last year's average of $4.14/lb.
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The Secret - Apr 24, 2007
But, what does Isaias’ coffee have, that make it so special and it could won over 401 producers from all over the country in the Cup of Excellence competition? What did make that Japaneses, Europeans and Americans were fighting for his coffee, until it got a new record in the price for Colombian Coffees? The secret is definitively in the capacity of the Beneficiadero (which is not bigger than 10 feet) nor the technology, because the most modern device or machine Isaías has is an old motorcycle he drive to go to the town to buy the products for the farm.
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Colombia First Harvest Cup of Excellence® Auction Sets New Record - Apr 7, 2007
This year’s 2007 Colombia First Harvest Cup of Excellence® Competition sets a new auction price record for Colombia, while also bringing in the highest average price per lot ($6.73) in Cup of Excellence history. Selling for $19.20 per pound, the La Esperanza coffee auction price tops Colombia’s previous record of $19.10 per pound received during the First Harvest competition auction held in 2005.
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Nicaragua Cup of Excellence McKinsey Report (Executive Summary) - Feb 7, 2007
The attached Executive Summary is an overview of a report created in October 2006 to measure the impact of the Cup of Excellence program in Nicaragua over its first 5 years. The report is based on interviews of more than 75 stakeholders in the Nicaragua Cup of Excellence – including buyers, farmers, exporters, and donors – and analysis of a broad set of data relevant to the program and the specialty coffee industry.
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Excellence in a Cup - Jan 25, 2007
Excellence in a Cup
A competition promotes trade in coffee based on quality, not just quantity
From The Economist print edition
ONE morning last month in an airy hall at the Federal University of Viçosa, Brazil, the only sound to be heard was a chorus of zestfully inelegant slurping. Twenty-four black-aproned judges were wielding their distinctive tasting spoons at the Cup of Excellence competition, searching for the country's best coffee.
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Nicaragua Assessment Shows Positive Results - Jan 25, 2007
Missoula Mt. (January 25, 2007) - The release today of the Cup of Excellence (COE) Nicaragua assessment gives valid proof that the program has huge benefits to many more coffee producers than just the winners of the coveted award. The study indicates that Nicaragua receives about nine times the cost of the program in benefits to the entire coffee industry. Mainly due to the stringent competition process, overall quality and recognition for that quality in the marketplace have both dramatically improved, leading to increased roaster interest and more coffee being sold at a premium.
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Specialty Coffees of Costa Rica To Be Awarded The Cup of Excellence - Jan 19, 2007
The Alliance for Coffee Excellence, Inc. (ACE) is pleased to announced the addition of Costa Rica to its prestigious Cup of Excellence® competition line up for 2007. The Specialty Coffee Association of Costa Rica (SCACR) recently announced its plans to hold the international cupping week during May 14th to 18th and the auction June 21st. Cup of Excellence supporters are already signing up to be included on the jury and to bid at the auction.
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Brazil Sees Its Best Average Cup of Excellence® Auction Price - Jan 17, 2007
After eight years of conducting the Cup of Excellence program the Brazil winning farmers saw their average price per pound rise up to over $5.00lb. Yesterday’s online auction took many by surprise as all 28 coffees had bids within the first 25 minutes, and a record number of bids were placed by its end some 6&1/2 hours later. Cup of Excellence auctions see fierce bidding and this was no exception as prices rose for the exemplary winning coffees from a very geographically diverse group of farmers.
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Cup of Excellence Returns to Campus to Select Top Coffee - Dec 14, 2006
The Cup of Excellence® program returned to a campus setting for its annual Brazil Cup of Excellence competition. The very first competition was held in 1999 on a university campus in Lavras, Brazil with only a handful of cuppers. Eight years later thirty-one international cuppers enjoyed the final selection week on campus at the Universidade Federal de Viçosa, one of the largest and most well known agricultural universities in Latin America.
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Nicaragua’s Top Coffees Command Wide Attention during Internet Auction - Jun 22, 2006
Twenty five Nicaraguan coffee lots sold today in a five hour nail biting live internet auction that saw roasting companies battling for ownership on computers from offices located in Russia, Taiwan, Japan, Canada, Ireland, Germany, France, Norway, The Netherlands, the UK and throughout the USA. At stake were bragging rights in owning the year’s best coffees and selling these rare coffees to their discerning customers for a premium.
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70% of Pre-selected 2006 Guatemalan Coffee Lots Qualify - May 19,2006
A total of 46 samples of Guatemalan Coffees, 70% of the 65 coffee submitted, were selected to participate in the International Competition of Cup of Excellence® 2006, according to Rodolfo González, General Manager of Anacafé, during a press conference. After four days of intense cupping, 12 national cuppers from the main exporting companies of the country, collaborated with Paul Songer, head judge and Technical Director of Cup of Excellence®, to select only those with average scores of 84 and above.
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Colombia Farmers enjoy $5.21/lb. at the Cup of Excellence® Auction - Apr 13, 2006
Colombia farmers will enjoy $5.21/lb. for their exemplary coffees that were auctioned off today on the Cup of Excellence® website. The Cup of Excellence® has historically enjoyed both a recognizable group of bidders loyal to the program and new bidders consisting of small to large roasters. This auction was no exception as new bidders logged in from Russia to Spain. Even a Colombia specialty roaster bought one lot to be enjoyed by local coffee aficionados.
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Colombian Coffee Farmers Celebrate Top Quality Coffee - Mar 6, 2006
In a torch lit outdoors ceremony held at Colombia’s famous Coffee Park, 23 coffee farmers were honored with the coveted Cup of Excellence® award. Over 250 people enjoyed the Friday evening festivities coordinated by the Comité de Cafeteros del Quindío. The three week long competition held in Armenía was the second Cup of Excellence® event to be hosted in this coffee growing area, which focuses primarily on the northern and central coffee-growing regions of the country. Since Colombia uniquely features two distinct harvests, another competition will take place in late August to capture the best coffees from the later harvest and Colombia’s southernmost coffee-growing regions.
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Guatemalan Coffee Farmers Announce Plans for 2006 Program - Jan 26, 2006
At a press conference held today in Guatemala City, Guatemala, The Asociacion Nacional de Café ( Anacafe´) and The Alliance For Coffee Excellence, Inc. (ACE) announced plans for a joint 2006 competition and auction program for the finest Guatemalan coffees. The international jury will meet May 29th -June 2nd, 2006, in Guatemala City to select the final coffees to be awarded the coveted Cup of Excellence®. Those selected coffees will then be sold to the highest bidders during a world-wide internet auction which will be held on July 11th, 2006, on the Cup of Excellence® website.
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Top Coffee Earns Blow Out Record Breaking Price at Auction - Jan 10, 2006
Cup of Excellence’s #1 winner Francisco Isidoro Dias Pereira will take home an amazing $49.75/lb. for his award winning coffee. This is the highest price ever paid at an internet auction for any coffee and broke the previous record by over $25.00 lb. Michele’s Espresso and Instaurator from Australia along with Caffe Artigiano from Canada held off a group of mainly US based roasters to finally claim victory in the over 6 hour long Brazil Cup of Excellence auction held today.
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Bolivian Coffee Farmers Enthralled as Auction Prices Rise Above Expectations - Dec 1, 2005
Expressing sincere appreciation to the roasters who bid an average of $4.67lb today for their winning coffee, Bolivian farmers were thrilled with the outcome from their second Cup of Excellence auction. “I want to thank all the buyers for their support. I am going to improve the quality of life for my family, I will improve my coffee fields so that they can produce better coffee,” indicated Mario Mamani after his coffee was sold for $7.25lb-more income than he ever expected from coffee.
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Thirty-Six Brazilian Coffee Farmers Win Top Coffee Competition - Nov 29, 2005
A small select group of Brazilian coffee farmers are still celebrating their win at the most recent Cup of Excellence awards ceremony held in Pocos de Caldas on November 18, 2005. Only 36 coffees won the prestigious award out of over 550 that were entered. These coffees had been judged at least five times by different juries and had come out on top in every cupping.
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Colombia Second Cup of Excellence® Enjoys Worldwide Participation - Oct 6, 2005
Thirty three coffee farmers watched the four hour long online auction today to find out which roaster had purchased their winning Cup of Excellence lot. Buyers from the Europe US, Canada, Japan and Malaysia bought all 33 lots for an average price of $3.66 lb, multiple times the normal C contract and well above even most specialty coffee prices. Eleven of the thirty-three lots fetched more than $4.00 lb and nine more were sold at over $3.00lb during the online bidding.
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El Salvador Coffee Farmers Thrilled with Auction Results – Jun 29, 2005
Winning Cup of Excellence® farmers, dignitaries and press broke into loud applause as the top winning coffee hit $16.30 lb. during today’s internet auction. "I feel so happy, I never expected that all my work and effort could have such recognition, I will work so hard next year," Rafael Pérez, owner San Roberto and the winning farmer.
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El Salvador Cup of Excellence® Auction Draws Roaster Interest – Jun 21, 2005
Coffee farmers in El Salvador are anxiously awaiting June 29th when bidders from around the globe will compete for ownership of their prize winning Cup of Excellence® coffee. The 17 winning coffees were selected out of approximate 300 entries to the competition and were awarded after being cupped at least five times in three different judging phases. An international jury spent a week in San Salvador cupping the final award phase during May 16th-20th.
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Nicaragua Cup of Excellence® Coffees Sold To Diverse International Buyers - Jun 16, 2005
Thirty-five Nicaraguan competition-winning coffees were sold today during a worldwide Internet auction that saw high bids placed on multiple coffee lots. After the nearly four-hour auction was over it was the fifth place coffee that had received the highest bid. Several US roasters battling during the last closing minutes paid $8.25lb. for the 20 bag lot. Chicago based Intelligentsia placed the winning bid for the group of roasters who will share the lot from Esteli. Portland's Stumptown Coffee, Boston's Terroir Select, The Coffee Tree Roasters from Pittsburgh, Breaking New Grounds of New Hampshire and Ecco Caffe of Santa Rosa, California each won the right to sell a portion of the lot to their customers.
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Nicaragua Coffee Farmers Celebrate - May 19, 2005
Thirty-Five coffees scored high enough to be awarded the coveted Cup of Excellence prize in a ceremony in Managua on May 13, 2005. The five week long competition process, which includes both national and international judging, culminated in an awards ceremony attended by the press, dignitaries and many of Nicaragua’s finest farmers. Pueblo Viejo, a new hotel compound outside of Managua, opened just in time for the Cup of Excellence international jury, and was the setting for the last week of cupping, and the awards ceremony.
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Honduras Farmer’s Focus On Quality Pays Off - May 6, 2005
The Honduras Cup of Excellence competition awards ceremony was held in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. 800 farmers took part in the second annual competition. Forty-one farmers received the coveted Cup of Excellence® award. This is the largest number of awards from any single competition for the Cup of Excellence® program since 1999, when it began. Just a year earlier, 200 farmers participated and twenty-one coffees received the CoE award.
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Honduras Coffee Farmers Excited About Second Competition - Mar 9, 2005
For the second year in a row, coffee growers from every corner of Honduras will have the opportunity to show the world the quality of their coffee and earn higher prices when the 2005 Cup of Excellence® quality coffee competition opens today. Coffee samples will be accepted from March 9 - April 15; during this pre-screening phase, regional competitions will be held to determine which producers will represent each district.
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Farmers Celebrate in Manizales, Colombia - Feb 23, 2005
The specialty coffee farmers of the Huila growing region in Colombia had good reason to celebrate on Friday February 18th. Sixteen of the twenty-five awards given out at the first Cup of Excellence ceremony were presented to exemplary growers from this area. Ricaurte Hernández won the coveted first place with a fifteen-bag lot from his farm, Los Nogales. Just as the prize was announced a cell phone rang with congratulations from his daughter who had just heard the results on the nightly TV news broadcast.
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Colombian Coffee Farmers Excited About First Competition - Dec 13, 2004
Small and large coffee farmers in Colombia are fastidiously harvesting their very best coffee in anticipation of winning a prestigious Cup of Excellence award on February 18, 2005. Only those contestant coffees that pass these strict competition requirements will be granted the industry’s highest award and be eligible to be sold as Cup of Excellence coffees at often record breaking prices.
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Bolivian Farmers Excited for First Cup of Excellence® - Nov 26, 2004
Over 300 Bolivian coffee farmers are expected to gather in Caranavi on December 2, 2004 in support of their first Cup of Excellence auction. Hopeful coffee farmers, together with dignitaries, press and guests will be watching each bid as companies from around the world compete for the 13 coffee lots good enough to be selected at the recent international competition.
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Brazil’s Cup of Excellence® Auction Reaps Record Premiums - Nov 18, 2004
The 6th annual Brazil Cup of Excellence auction held today broke both the country record and the average price per pound record for a coffee auction. With all of the coffees fetching over $3.50 per pound and the average price per pound over $5.00, all 36 winning Brazilian farmers will walk away with huge premiums. Only 4 of the 36 coffees sold for less than $4.00lb. The top coffee was sold to Maruyama Coffee and The Mikatujuku Group for $13.65lb. This group of small Japanese roasters has previously bought top competition winning coffees
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El Salvador Cup of Excellence® Winners Anxiously Awaiting Internet Auction - Jun 8, 2004
On June 22nd the El Salvador winning Cup of Excellence coffees will be sold to the highest bidder while many of the excited farmers watch the live internet auction. Roasters and importers from all over the world have already signed up to receive samples. They will cup the coffees, pick their favorites and compete with each other to win the right to own one of the valuable lots. The auction which is held on the Cup of Excellence web site will begin at 9:00AM Eastern time. In 2003 the first place coffee reached a record price of over $14.00lb.
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El Salvador Coffee Growers Submit Samples for Second Cup Of Excellence® - Mar 30, 2004
The 2004 El Salvador competition will begin with hundreds of samples pre-screened for minimum quality standards during the week of April 12,2004. Those samples that pass will move on to the second stage of qualifying rounds conducted by the best cuppers in El Salvador. The best of these coffees will then be entered into the final international jury competition during the week of May 10th, 2004. Winning farmers will be awarded the prestigious Cup of Excellence for their most exemplary coffees on May 14, 2004.
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Honduras To Join Cup Of Excellence - Mar 13, 2004
The Alliance For Coffee Excellence, Inc (ACE) the US non profit corporation which owns the Cup of Excellence program recently announced plans to add Honduras to the list of countries holding a competition and auction in 2004. Instituto Hondureño del Café will be the partner organization in Honduras to coordinate this first program.
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Cup Of Excellence Receives Award During The SCAE Conference In Rimini, Italy - Feb 25, 2004
The Alliance for Coffee Excellence, Inc received an award for the Cup of Excellence® program during an awards ceremony held during the recent conference of The Specialty Coffee Association of Europe. The award for Producer Interest was given based on the program’s objective and it’s success helping small and medium farmers on their road to quality and recognition. Susie Spindler, as Executive Director of ACE accepted the award on behalf of The Cup of Excellence family of winning farmers and quality oriented buyers.
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Diverse Group of Bidders Buy 37 Cup of Excellence® coffees at Auction - June 18, 2003
A record number of coffees were sold during the Cup of Excellence Internet auction held yesterday. Buyers from the United States, Japan, Europe and even Kuala Lumpur paid a premium for their favorite award winning coffee. Historically Japanese buyers have paid the highest price and purchased a majority of the Cup of Excellence coffees but more than half of the coffee will be headed for Europe and the United States.
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Gloria Jean’s Brews The Best Of Brazil - Dec 12, 2002
Gloria Jean’s Gourmet Coffees announced the release of its newest specialty coffee, the Brazilian 2002 Cup of Excellence winner from Fazenda (farm) Catuaí. With a limited production, Gloria Jean’s is the only US-based gourmet coffee chain to offer this rare, exquisitely balanced coffee. It also marks the first time a Cup of Excellence winner has been available at a nationwide chain. Brazilian Reserve, as marketed by Gloria Jean’s, is available through the company’s 158 mall-based domestic stores, as well as select international markets, for a limited time.
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2002 Brazil Cup of Excellence® Auction Breaks Records - Dec 10, 2002
The Brazil Cup of Excellence Internet auction set a new high price record this year. The winning coffee lot from the #1 farm was sold for a US$12.85 per pound to Maruyama Coffee. Mr. Maruyama, a Japanese roaster who fought off several last minute bids exclaimed "when I found out I won the lot I was very, very happy and now I can share this wonderful coffee with my customers. I thank the farmers who put such energy into all these excellent coffees".
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Brazil to Hold Double Coffee Auction - Nov 14, 2002
December 10, 2002 will be the official auction day for the 28 award winning Cup of Excellence® coffee lots selected by the international jury during this years competition. These are coffees that have been selected in the third and final phase as the best and have received a score of 80 points and above in at least five different cuppings by 3 separate juries.
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