Nicaragua Coffee News: Smallholder, Organic Farmer Takes First Place in "Cup of Excellence ®" Competition

International Buyers Will Bid at July 1 Internet Auction

(CSRwire) TechnoServe/U.S. -- Twenty-nine Nicaraguan coffees -- 22 of them produced by small-scale farmers -- were selected as winners of Nicaragua's prestigious Cup of Excellence® competition on May 21 and will be offered for sale during the country's third annual Cup of Excellence® Internet auction, to be held July 1.

A total of 497 coffee samples were entered in the 2004 Cup of Excellence® competition in Nicaragua. National and international coffee experts evaluated the coffees based on such qualifications as the absence of defects, sweetness, acidity, flavor and balance. The first place winner, Daniel Canales, is a smallholder farmer affiliated with the PRODECOOP cooperative. The coffee from his Pueblo Nuevo, Esteli farm, and that of seven of his fellow winners, is certified organic. Daniel's, however, was grown at an unusually high altitude for Nicaraguan coffees (1,350 meters) and received the highest point-value score of 91.40 out of 100.

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