FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Missoula, MT (January 27, 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.

“Guatemala produces some of the world’s finest coffees and we are excited to discover and award these farmers through the Cup of Excellence® competition program,” explained Susie Spindler the Executive Director of ACE, the non-profit owner of the internationally recognized competition program. “With the demand for Guatemala’s exemplary coffee already very high among discriminating roasters and consumers, it is expected that these winners will be in great demand when they go to auction in July.” José Angel Lopez, president of Anacafé mentioned that, “The coffee sector welcomes the Cup of Excellence® program, which offers excellent marketing tools to those farmers committed to the production of high quality coffee.”

Including the pre-screening phases, the national cuppings and the final international jury selections, the competition process will take about 3 weeks. During each of these separate cuppings, only those finest coffees will move forward on to the next stage. The winning farmers, dignitaries and press will gather for the awards ceremony in Guatemala City on the evening of June 2nd, 2006, to celebrate the winners that achieved this prestigious honor.

Anacafe has been concentrating its efforts on supporting farmers of exemplary-quality coffees, and previously sponsored the successful Exceptional Cup program in 2004 and 2005. “Along with their technical cupping and marketing knowledge, Anacafé has made tremendous inroads into the collection of specific farm information using GIS/GPS data, we are looking forward to a very beneficial partnership,” Spindler continued.

The Guatemalan competition will mark the 27th Cup of Excellence program since it’s beginnings in 1999. Other participating countries have enjoyed record prices at auction for their winning coffee lots. For more information about the Cup of Excellence program, and to learn more about the finest Guatemalan coffees log on to www.cupofexcellence.org and www.guatemalancoffees.org.