The Alliance for Coffee Excellence (ACE) announced on 22 June the election of four new board members. Flori Marin, Geoff Watts, Mark Dundon and Aida Batlle will serve on the ACE Board of Directors, the organisation announced in a statement. Flori Marin was re-elected as the Secretary-Treasurer. Marin has been working in the specialty coffee business for the last 20 years with a diverse history of importing, at origin in Costa Rica with her own farm and now as an integral part of the very popular Monmouth Coffee Company roaster/retailer in London, UK, ACE reported. Geoff Watts has spent 17 years as the chief buyer for Intelligentsia, a specialty roaster/retailer in the US. ACE noted that he has traveled the globe working closely with farmers, is well known for pioneering the direct trade concept and has judged on more than 30 Cup of Excellence juries. Mark Dundon owns a small, influential roasting company in Melbourne, Australia called Seven Seeds. Mark has worked in the coffee industry for 13 years, with a focus on education, support for farmers and quality. He helped organise the first roasting and cupping training programs for ACE . Aida Batlle is a fifth generation coffee farmer. Batlle became famous at the first El Salvador Cup of Excellence in 2003 when she won both first and 16th place with her farms. The four new board members will join current ACE Board members Kentaro Maruyama of Maruyama Coffee and Yoshi Kato of Bontain Coffee, both in Japan, Jason Long of Café Imports in the US, Andreas Hertzberg of Solberg & Hansen in Norway and Bernd Braune of SUPREMO Kaffeerösterei in Germany. ACE is a US-based non-profit that fosters appreciation for exemplary coffees and farmers through its global Cup of Excellence program, training and other complimentary programs. For more information visit www.cupofexcellence.org
