Contact; Susie Spindler
Phone: 406-542-3509
Email:susie@montana.com

For Immediate Release:

Alfenas, Brazil (November 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.

However, for the first time, a second internet auction will be held for the semi-finalists two days later on December 12, 2002. These 31 coffee lots, called Cafés do Brasil National Winners were good enough to be selected in the semi final second phase of the Cup of Excellence competition by the National jury.

"These national award winning coffees are very good," explains Marcelo Vieira, President of the Brazil Specialty Coffee Association, "and even though we do not expect as high a price at auction as the more prestigious Cup of Excellence coffees many will and should receive a premium."

"For those buyers looking for quality coffees," he goes on, " which are an integral part of an espresso program, a positive compliment to a blend or even a single origin they will find an amazing variety to choose from, without any more effort that just registering for samples."

This is the fourth Cup of Excellence program for Brazil. The three previous auctions resulted in record prices for the limited number of international Cup of Excellence winners. Susie Spindler, a co-founder and now manager of the program clarifies the rationale, "After the 2001 auction left many bidders empty handed and wanting to buy an award winning Brazil coffee it was decided that a second tier auction was the next step for the Cup of Excellence program. The rigorous competition process remains the same but now both the top winners and the runners up have access to an internet marketplace and buyers have the opportunity to bid on multiple lots of different flavor profiles, different qualities and at different price levels."

For Kentaro Maruyama an international juror from Japan ,"it is the finding of unique flavors which I don't expect like jasmine, chocolate, grapefruit, apricot and spices that brings me back to the auction. To experience these coffees is a constant learning process."

Geoff Watts, of Chicago based Intelligentsia Coffee thinks that without an adequate reward back to the farmers, quality coffees could end up reverting to mediocrity, "If the goal of specialty coffee buyers and sellers is to elevate the status of coffee to that of fine wine, the Cup of Excellence program is the perfect place to start. To purchase them at a premium is to send a message of appreciation directly to the home of the grower."

There were a record 826 coffee samples entered into the 2002 competition. 59 of these will be offered to the trade during these two internet auctions. For information about the winners and the program go to www.bsca.com.br About Cup of Excellence®

The goal of The Cup of Excellence® program is to find and reward quality coffee farmers.

The monetary reward in the form of an increased premium at the auction, is paid directly to the farmers who have been selected as winners in the international phase of the competition. Each of these winning farmers sells his coffee individually and receives at least 80% of the auction proceeds. The program inspires farmers to begin and maintain the extra effort that high quality coffees require.

The competition results are based on taste in the cup and have no political, gender or farm size bias. In fact winning coffees have come from both very small and very large farms, from men and women and from several political areas. Preconceived notions about a region have no impact as witnessed by several Cup of Excellence® surprise winning coffees from unknown regions.

The international jury evaluates every flavor note and searches for that sweetness, acidity and balance which only the perfectly ripe, carefully handled coffees exhibit. The winning coffees go to the marketplace via an international Internet auction.

Anyone in the coffee trade, both large and small companies, can choose and purchase their favorites without the typical costly searching and with the knowledge that the successful effort to produce this quality will be acknowledged in a most just way---through a financial reward. Many of the winning coffees have been sold during the auction at record-breaking prices.

This search for unique coffee is also of critical importance to the future of the specialty coffee roaster whose customers demand quality. Historically many of these premium coffees have not been easy to find, either vanishing into a blend or disappearing through a co-op or an exporter to favored clients.

The Cup of Excellence® program builds the bridge between the producer of quality and the buyer of quality, creating the possibility of a long-term partnership. Coffee labels may come and go but the continued search and the financial reward for exemplary coffee creates true sustainability.

The Cup of Excellence® program is open to any country willing to follow its guidelines. Brazil, Guatemala and Nicaragua are the three Cup of Excellence® program countries to date. The Cup of Excellence program is owned by The Alliance for Coffee Excellence, Inc. a US based non-profit corporation.