Luís Alberto Valladarez Moncada of Un Regalo de Dios has won the 2020 Nicaragua Cup of Excellence (COE) with a Maracaturra natural processed coffee that scored 91.2 points.
Moncada, who also placed first in 2018, also received a Presidential Award.
“We humbly receive this award in the name of Nicaraguan farmers. We represent small farmers in Nicaragua, and we know their effort and everything that must be done in order to produce these coffees,” Moncada says.
“With the effort of everyone involved we can push ourselves through this difficult time, people want to work and make it happen. This is a small example of what Nicaraguan coffees can do to offer the world.”
Maracaturra varietals dominated the 16th Nicaragua COE, taking the top five placings, as well as 10th, 12th, 16th and 17th.
The COE returned to Nicaragua after a one-year hiatus with 249 participants, 74 per cent of which were first-time contestants. This year’s competition awarded 17 COE coffees and 12 National Winner coffees.
To continue supporting coffee producers this year, the COE program augmented its competition which traditionally is held entirely at origin. This was the program’s first competition to see the international stage hosted at various Global Coffee Centers (GCCs) around the world including Japan, South Korea, Australia, Norway and the United States.
“It has been a pure pleasure and a humble experience to cup and score exemplary coffees from Nicaragua in this year’s Cup of Excellence,” Synøve Nesøen, Nicaragua COE International Judge and Green Coffee Buyer from GCC Kaffebrenneriet in Norway, says.
“I am convinced that every professional cupper will find several gems among them and consumers all over the world will be thrilled to taste the sweet, clean and mouthwatering treasures from Nicaragua.”
This year’s COE and National Winners represent five regions in Nicaragua. The 12 National Winner coffees include 9 certified organics and 11 first-time contestants.
In a virtual awards ceremony and press conference held on 3 June, the 2021 contract for Nicaragua COE was also signed with Nicaragua in-country partners Conatradec.
“It’s a historic day for Nicaragua, COE, and the country of Nicaragua. This has been part of a plan for development for the coffee industry of Nicaragua,” says Nicaragua Minister of Agriculture Eduardo Centeno.
“The quality of our coffee is showing results. This pushes us to keep working harder. Together with [the Alliance for Coffee Excellence,] we know we can keep working with farmers to give them access to buyers around the world.”
This year’s auction will offer buyers tiered opening prices along with a lowered opening price for the National Winner auction to promote direct trade relationships among producers and buyers.
For more information, visit www.allianceforcoffeeexcellence.org/nicaragua-2020
Upcoming 2020 Auctions include:
Ethiopia
Cup of Excellence: 25 June
National Winner: 22 – 26 June
Nicaragua
Cup of Excellence: 16 July
National Winner: 13 – 31 July
Guatemala
Cup of Excellence: 28 July
National Winner: 20 July 20 – 7 August
El Salvador
Cup of Excellence: 30 July
National Winner: 27 July – 4 August
Costa Rica
Cup of Excellence: 5 August
National Winner: 3 – 21 August