Cup of Excellence Central America draws to a close
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Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Costa Rica and Mexico have all each successfully completed their 2024 Cup of Excellence (CoE) coffee competition and auction season.
Over the course of the six auctions, 21,661 bids were placed from buyers for the 192 winning lots. When the three minute clock struck zero at the end of the final auction, over 2.6 million dollars had been raised. Out of the 706 registered bidders 128 were successful placing the highest bid to own a winning lot.
Costa Rica garnered the highest gross auction amount of USD $655,786, almost $271,000 more than in 2023, although every country improved their totals from 2023. Honduras took home the top price of $136.50lb for its first place coffee. Together the 192 total lots averaged $21.54lb. 2024 was the first year that coffees were divided by processing technique. Natural, washed and experimentally processed coffees were all represented in the winning lots having been separated during the competition.
The full programme began in early Spring in Nicaragua with the call for farmer entries and it ended on Tuesday 13th July with Mexico holding its final very busy auction. Each country held a full 3-week competition to determine which coffees would score high enough to be awarded a CoE and sold online to the highest bidder. Coffees receiving a CoE award undergo intense scrutiny from both a national jury and an international jury during the competition process. The lots being auctioned scored between the minimum required score of 87 to a high of 93.62. A total of 172 professional cuppers from 24 countries scored the winners through the multiple phases of the competition process. A total of 39 lots scored over 90 points, 31 of the winning farms are owned by women and 37 are owned by farmers experiencing their first Cup of Excellence competition.
Sample sets of the winners were sent out to roasters wanting to score the coffees again at their place of business. Almost 500 complete sets of winning lots were sent to companies in North America, the Middle East, Europe and Asia. Each lot was also processed to meticulous standards and vacuum packed before the auctions occurred.
Honduras celebrated its 20th anniversary this year. Guatemala held its first CoE in 2001, Nicaragua in 2002, El Salvador in 2003, Costa Rica in 2007 and Mexico in 2012. Identification of farmers, infrastructure development, technical training and quality improvement are often the result of the Cup of Excellence programme.
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