Cup of Excellence holds first auction in Peru

On 14 September the Alliance for Coffee Excellence (ACE) kicked off its first ever Cup of Excellence in Lima, Peru. “For over 15 years, it has been my dream that eventually Cup of Excellence could come to Perú and begin the process of discovering the qualities and the farmers that have long been hidden,” said ACE Founder, Susie Spindler.  With more than 300 samples originally submitted from seven growing regions, the pre-selection process started with 265 farmers moving on to the National Jury. The National jury approved 35 coffees for the International jury to analyse. A total of 19 winners were selected, and from that an astounding five lots received the Presidential Award, which are coffees receiving 90 and above by a jury from over 12 countries. This year’s jury comprised members from the United States, Australia, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Germany, Perú, Belgium, South Korea, Honduras, Japan, Taiwan and the United Kingdom.  “With this Cup of Excellence competition, we can make improvements on our farm and also help our family to make improvements. We are grateful for this, we know this will help us [to] be a better producer,” Fredy Bermeo Guevara of Finca San Pedro, said in a speech at the awards ceremony. Bermeo was the third place winner, scoring 90.48 with his caturra and bourbon varieties from the region of Cajamarca. The winning farm, Finca La Flor, with one of the highest scores from any competition in Perú to date and also from Cajamarca, scored 92.25, produced by Juan Heredia Sanchez. Other winning regions included, Junin, Cusco, Amazonas and San Martin. Varieties included, pache, gesha, and typica. The program was supported by all the major coffee councils and associations in Perú. With generous support by the Government of Perú’s Ministry of Agriculture and Production, the event was also hosted by Central Café y Cacao, Junta Nacional del Café, Camara Peruana del Café, PromPeru and the Platforma Nacional del Café y Cacao. The Auction will be live on October 25th on the Alliance’s website: www.allianceforcoffeeexcellence.org.