Alliance for Coffee Excellence

Cuppa help — Missoula organization connects foreign coffee growers with market
By ROBERT STRUCKMAN of the Missoulian

"Most people don't know that coffee comes from cherries," said Sara Pankratz of the Missoula-based Alliance for Coffee Excellence.

The red berrylike fruit yields green pits that are roasted and ground, she said, extending a pamphlet with a photo of ripe cherries on a brown stalk.

Education and advocacy are the heart of the modest Missoula-based international coffee nonprofit. With a budget of $330,000 in 2004, just two employees and an office with no windows, the six-year-old organization still has an outsized impact on the international coffee market.
"Their role on the world stage is huge," said Mike Ferguson, spokesman for the Long Beach, Calif.-based Specialty Coffee Association of America.

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