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Coffee News from Nicaragua: 497 Coffee Samples Submitted For Nicaragua's Third Annual "Cup of Excellence ®" Competition

Coffee News from Nicaragua: 497 Coffee Samples Submitted For Nicaragua's Third Annual "Cup of Excellence ®" Competition

Published 04-29-04

Submitted by TechnoServe, Inc.

Norwalk, CT - A total of 497 coffee samples from small and medium-scale farms and large estates throughout Nicaragua have been submitted for the upcoming "Cup of Excellence®," the third countrywide coffee competition to be held here, according to Ernest van Panhuys, Country Director of TechnoServe/Nicaragua, one of the event's organizers.

Previously held in Brazil, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and El Salvador, the Cup of Excellence® is a country-wide tasting event that is designed to identify and promote the host country's best coffees through a series of blind tastings (called "cuppings") that are conducted by national and international coffee experts and evaluate every detail, from body and acidity to flavor and balance. Nicaraguan coffee growers of all sizes and from all regions were invited to submit samples for the 2004 Cup of Excellence®.

From April 14-22 a jury of 15 national coffee experts evaluated the 497 coffee samples at the offices of Bolsa Agropecuaria in Managua. The competition now moves to the Hotel Lomas de Santo Tomas in Matagalpa where, from May 5-9, the first-round winners will be re-evaluated by the 15 national coffee experts. From May 17-21, the second-round winners will be evaluated by an international jury of 20 coffee experts. The final winners will be selected on May 21 and will receive the prestigious Cup of Excellence® prize. On July 1, the winning coffees will participate in an Internet auction, where international importers and specialty coffee roasters will bid on Nicaragua's best beans.

Nicaragua's 2004 "Cup of Excellence®" is designed to help coffee growers who are committed to quality coffee to earn better prices. The organizers include: TechnoServe; Asociación de Cafes Especiales de Nicaragua (ACEN); Proyecto Nacional de Competitividad (ProCompe); Ministry of Agriculture; Bolsa Agropecuaria (BAGSA); Asociación de Exportadores de Café de Nicaragua(EXCAN);Unión de Cooperativas de Pequeños Productores de Nicaragua (CafeNica); COOPENORTE (association of coffee-processing mills); and Asociación de Almacenes de Depósitos Financieros (ASOFIN).

The Cup of Excellence® is owned and managed by the Alliance for Coffee Excellence, Inc. (ACE), and was created by the Brazil Specialty Coffee Association working with George Howell, Susie Spindler and the Specialty Coffee Association of America under the International Coffee Organization's Gourmet Project conducted in 1999. Sponsors of Nicaragua's 2004 Cup of Excellence® include the U.K. Department for International Development (DFID), the World Bank, the Swedish Government, and the U.S. Agency for
International Development (USAID). TechnoServe's involvement is made possible with funding from USAID and The Procter & Gamble Company.

In 2002, TechnoServe joined forces with the Asociación de Cafes Especiales de Nicaragua and the Programa Nacional de Competitividad to organize the country's first-ever "Cup of Excellence®" competition. Of the 285 coffee samples submitted, 23 were selected as winners and participated in an Internet auction. All 23 coffee lots offered were purchased by international buyers, and the coffee grown in Jinotega by smallholders Arturo González and Eliseo Lumbí fetched the highest price, at $11.75 per pound. This was twenty times the price of Arabica coffee on the New York market, and it set a new record price for coffee sold via the Internet.

"The Cup of Excellence® 2002 pulled the best Nicaraguan coffee growers from anonymity and gave them a high price for their great commitment to quality," said Roberto Bendaña, President of the Asociación de Cafes Especiales de Nicaragua. "In addition, the Nicaraguan coffees surpassed both the international jury's and international buyers' expectations. This event showed everyone that Nicaragua produces some of the best coffee in the world."

"The Cup of Excellence® is a bright spot in these difficult times for coffee growers worldwide," said TechnoServe's Ernest van Panhuys. "At TechnoServe we believe that attention to quality is a very important component in solving the current coffee crisis, and the Cup of Excellence® is an excellent way to showcase producer countries and coffee growers who are committed to quality."

TechnoServe is currently assisting hundreds of small- and medium-scale coffee growers in Nicaragua to improve the quality of their coffee and to penetrate niche markets that pay higher prices for good quality. In 2002, TechnoServe and The Procter & Gamble Company announced their alliance -- including P&G's $1.5 million grant to TechnoServe -- to help small-scale coffee growers in Latin America to weather the current crisis of record-low world market prices. For Nicaragua's 2004 Cup of Excellence®, TechnoServe is coordinating work plans, roles and responsibilities with the other organizers; working with PricewaterhouseCoopers, who will audit the results; overseeing the web site for the Cup of Excellence® event and Internet auction; managing the budget; and handling the calculations of the cupping results (scoring).

To learn more about Nicaragua's 2004 Cup of Excellence® please contact:

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TechnoServe, Inc.

TechnoServe, Inc.

TechnoServe is leading a movement that empowers people in the developing world to build businesses that break the cycle of poverty. Growing enterprises generate jobs and other income opportunities for poor people, enabling them to improve their lives and secure a better future for their families. Since its founding in 1968, the U.S.-based nonprofit has helped to create or expand thousands of businesses, benefiting millions of people in more than 30 countries. The Financial Times has rated TechnoServe one of the top five NGOs for corporate partnerships. Charity Navigator has also awarded its highest Four Star ranking to TechnoServe.

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