BSCA held on December 9 in São Paulo (Brazil) the election of its Board of Directors.

A record number of Cup of Excellence winning farmers from Brazil auctioned their coffee to world wide bidders during a lengthy internet auction yesterday. 43 farmers were rewarded with an average premium price five times higher than the traditional C or commercial contract during the fifth Brazil Cup of Excellence auction. The average price per lot for all of the 43 was over $3.00. The price per pound averaged almost $3.00.

While most people in the US are preparing for Thanksgiving, a select group of coffee roasters and importers are busy sampling the 43 winners of the recent Cup of Excellence competition to determine their bidding strategy for the auction scheduled to be held December 9, 2003.

Surrounded by coffee-lovers from as far afield as Baltimore and Bulgaria, the coffee farmer Luiz Norberto Paschoal removes the frothy top off one last cup of espresso with a theatrical slurp. Savoring the taste and aroma for just a few seconds, he then expels the liquid in a thick brown jet into a bucket at his feet.

Carlos Sergio Sangland, a coffee producer from Brazil, is counting the days until December 9, 2003. That’s the day his winning coffee will be auctioned off on the Internet. Along with Sangland, there will be 42 additional coffee lots, all award-winners during Brazil’s fifth Cup of Excellence competition, which will be sold to the highest bidder.

Some of you who joined our Summer Tour will have an extra appreciation of the sheer scale and diversity of this beautiful country. For those of you who have not yet discovered BSCA Coffee or the many delights that Brazil has to offer – I can only recommend you try them both soon.

On October 29th to 31st an international jury of top cup tasters moves in to decide what Brazilian farmers will win this years Cup of Excellence awards. It will be the 5th consecutive year the competitions have been held...for the true pleasure of quality oriented roasters and consumers throughout the world that gets the opportunity to taste the results.

Nine hundred and seventy four farms from several different regions in Brazil submitted samples to this years coffee competition with the hope of winning a prestigious Cup of Excellence award. The competition, which lasts for several weeks, will culminate with the announcement of the winning farmers on November 3rd in Sã Paulo.

Alfenas, Brazil (October 8, 2003). A record number of samples was received in Alfenas (MG) to be cupped at the first phase of the 2003 - Cup of Excellence competition.