Contact:
Susie Spindler Phone: 406-542-3509
Email: susie@montana.com
Susies@cupofexcellence.org

For Immediate Release:

Alfenas Brazil, (October 9, 2003) Nine hundred and seventy four farms from several different regions in Brazil submitted samples to this years coffee competition with the hope of winning a prestigious Cup of Excellence award. The competition, which lasts for several weeks, will culminate with the announcement of the winning farmers on November 3rd in Saõ Paulo.

The internationally recognized Cup of Excellence award is given only to those coffees which pass the quality requirements of three different juries during five separate cuppings. Having been prescreened by a group of professional cuppers the top 175 samples are now entering the second stage of the competition where they will be cupped twice by the Brazil national jury. Only the top 60 of these will advance to the final stage and be cupped by the international jury who will in turn score these coffees at least twice again to determine the final winners. This year the international jury of 24 professional cuppers meets in Araxa, Brazil from October 27-31, 2003.

Silvio Leite, the head judge for the competition, is pleased with the variety and quality of the 2003 entries, “We have many new regions from Brazil represented that have never passed the prescreening,” he commented, “it is exciting to be part of such a huge revolution in quality improvement.”

“ With most coffee prices hovering around record breaking lows, the Cup of Excellence program continues to prove that an award winning coffee of exemplary quality can command a very high price,” explains Susie Spindler, co-creator of the program and now Executive Director of the Alliance for Coffee Excellence, Inc. which owns the Cup of Excellence program. “It is not surprising that every year the competition receives more samples from hopeful farmers who work hard to create a very high quality lot, know the value of the award and have witnessed the high prices these coffees have received at auction.”

Last year the top Brazil coffee received a record $12.85lb and the average price for all of the winning coffees was almost $4.00 lb. The auction for the 2003 winners will be held December 9, 2003. For more information log on to www.cupofexcellence.org or www.bsca.com.br.