Missoula MT. (December 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.

The 2005 program will be the first Cup of Excellence competition to be held in Colombia and will focus primarily on the northern and central coffee-growing regions of the country. Since Colombia uniquely features two distinct harvest times, a second competition will take place in late August, to capture the best coffees from the later harvest and Colombia’s southernmost coffee-growing regions.

“Adding Colombia to the Cup of Excellence family will have a huge impact on our ability to find and reward the world’s best coffee,” Susie Spindler, Executive Director of the non- profit Alliance for Coffee Excellence, Inc which owns the famous competition-auction program. “Colombia has long been well-known as a producer of high-quality coffees. Our roaster-members are really excited - they know the quality and unique flavors that are in Colombia and are lining up to be on the jury.”

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 go forward to the next stage. The winning farmers, dignitaries and the press will gather in Bogotá on the evening of February 18th to celebrate the winners.

Colombia’s National Federation of Coffee Growers, led by CEO Gabriel Silva, has been intensifying its efforts to help identify and support small farmers of exemplary-quality coffees. According to Mr. Silva, “We are thrilled to bring the Cup of Excellence program to Colombia, not only for the opportunity to discover superb new coffees, but also to help build lasting relationships between our roaster customers and our dedicated Colombian coffee farmers.”

The first Colombian competition will be the 16th Cup of Excellence to be held in Latin America since1999 when the program began. Other participating countries have enjoyed record average prices at auction for their winning coffee lots. For more information about the Cup of Excellence program, the upcoming Colombian competition or a complete list of the 2004 winning coffees and their buyers log on to www.cupofexcellence.org.