(Global Coffee Report)–The Cup of Excellence will be held in Ethiopia for the first time in March 2020.
The event is made possible through an ongoing partnership between the Alliance for Coffee Excellence, the Ethiopia Coffee and Tea Authority, United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and Feed the Future Ethiopia Value Chain (FTFE-VCA).
“Buy-in across the country from trading houses, cooperatives, and coffee unions has been swift and positive,” says Ian Chesterman, FTFE-VCA Project Director. “Prioritising open collaboration between private and public sectors from the start will help ensure the competition benefits all stakeholders, particularly our smallholder clients.”
The Cup of Excellence will highlight Ethiopian coffee and stimulate new market opportunities for smallholder producers in the country.
“The competition finally came home, where the best natural coffee is produced,” says producer Zenabu Alem. “I look forward to entering my coffee in the competition.”
Dr Adunga Debela, Director General of the Ethiopian Tea and Coffee Authority, says that the Cup of Excellence will open doors for smallholders on the world stage, giving them a platform to showcase Ethiopian coffee.
“Coffee is not just a cash crop for us. It’s part of our tradition and who we are as Ethiopians, the competition is not just a promotional tool for the world market, but also an exciting event for Ethiopia,” says Dr Adunga Debela.
It’s believed that coffee was discovered in Ethiopia 1200 years ago, boasting more than 6000 varieties with 95 per cent of coffee qualifying as organic. Ethiopia is one of the largest coffee producers in Africa, with an annual production exceeding 500,000 tons.
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About Cup of Excellence
Cup of Excellence is the premier coffee competition and auction worldwide! It is also the highest award given to a top scoring coffee. The level of scrutiny that Cup of Excellence coffees undergo is unmatched. All of the Cup of Excellence award winners are cupped at least five times (the top ten are cupped again) during the three-week competition. Literally hundreds of cups are smelled, tasted and scored based on their exemplary characteristics. The prices that these winning coffees receive at the auction has broken records time and again and prove that there is a huge demand for these rare, farmer identified coffees.