FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Missoula, MT. (August 2, 2005)- A whopping 858 farmers have entered their coffee into the second Colombian Cup of Excellence competition with the hope of winning one of the few coveted prizes to be handed out on September 2, 2005.

On Monday, August 8th, 2005 the Colombian national jury will begin the first formal cupping- pre-screening phase for the 776 samples that passed the first Colombian Coffee Federation specialty screening. Out of these 776 only the top 150 coffees will pass to the next round. The second, national jury phase will pass only 60 of the top 150 coffees. These 60 will then be scrutinized by more than 22 international professional coffee cuppers who will have traveled to Colombia for the final week-long cupping event.

At the awards ceremony each of the winning Cup of Excellence coffees will have been cupped at least 5 times in three different jury phases during the 3-week process. The top ten coffees will undergo a final 6th cupping in order to more fairly rank them and to award a clear winner.

“The results of the first Cup of Excellence auction created a great deal of anticipation - it is evident that there are lots of anxious farmers hoping to be one of the few winners”. Explained, Susie Spindler, Executive Director for The Alliance for Coffee Excellence, Inc. the non-profit owner of the competition event. “ Few coffees worldwide ever undergo this kind of intense scrutiny and winning can literally pull an unknown small farmer out of anonymity, into fame and onto the worldwide specialty coffee map. As far as I know,” she continues, “there has never been a program like Cup of Excellence for coffee farmers”.

Colombian winning coffees from the first Cup of Excellence auction were sold at record prices with the top coffee receiving $19.10lb- an almost unheard of price for any coffee. It is expected that the second event focusing on coffee harvested later in the year will also uncover previously unknown farmers who are producing exemplary coffee.

Roasters who are interested in buying the winning coffees need only to register for the auction and come in as the highest bidder during the Internet auction scheduled to be held October 2nd, 2005 or contact their local importer who can arrange for bidding and coordination.

In addition to Colombia, The Cup of Excellence program presently takes place in Brazil, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras and Bolivia. Plans are underway for expansion into other countries through out the world. This will be the 20th competition to date. For more information about the program to find out about winning farmers, auction registration and how to become an international juror log on to www.cupofexcellence.org.