Bolivia Cup of Excellence 2006

[Steve]

Some really bad news today from the cup of excellence. Last year I was lucky enough to be on the jury for Bolivia and also bought at auction one of my favourite coffees of all time. Its sad that this has happened, and I do hope that its sorted soon. It brings home the politics involved in South American coffee and the massive part the drug growing in this region really effects the people.

To give you an insight to the problems, the recent elections in Bolivia resulted in the elected president being in Favour of growing coca of which cocaine can be derived (with strong links of backing by these growers and the underworld involved in this). Uniquely Bolivia’s cup of excellence has been funded by USAID (us aid is the American aid agency that does a lot of good work in South America). USAID have withdrawn funding because of the new presidents stand. To me this is foolish as it just makes the farmer have to choose which can he get a better price for. Very sad

Here's the press release.


We regret to inform you that we are postponing the Bolivia Cup of Excellence program until 2007. Given the present political uncertainly and some of the problems encountered in 2005 we all felt it would be in the best interest of both the Cup of Excellence program and the wonderful farmers of Bolivia to wait until we all were comfortable that the program could be successfully executed.



This postponement comes with sadness because we have met so many wonderful farmers and the quality of the coffees we discovered was so fantastic.



We are committed to helping Bolivia's coffee producers become more sustainable and so we will spend some time during this year helping ACEB become a stronger supporter for exemplary coffee and laying the groundwork for a more effective Cup of Excellence program for the future.



Those of you who buy coffee from Bolivian farmers and would like help in this endeavor feel free to contact me or Sara and let us know.



We realize that many of you have already paid for samples and auction registration for Bolivia for 2006. We appreciate your support and will credit your account with this payment for your 2007 membership fees.



Thank you for your continued support

[zapty]

That is a real bummer, darned politics will do it (screw up everything) every time..

[Gouezeri]

I'm with you on this steve... backing out is not the way to help them.... giving them viable alternatives is... that's about practicality and humanity and should have nothing to do with contemporary "politics"... which just goes to show how screwed up politics is.

[kingseven]

USAID suck!

[ivdp]

Cup of excellence or not. A good or even excellent coffee remains an excellent coffee.
With or a without a certificate an expert buyer knows whether a coffee is worth the money or not.
Just keep supporting the farmer who produces good, excellent coffees.

Ivo

[fred25]

Nice to see the US administration supporting the right of democracies to self-determination (or the democratic process itself -see the palestinian situation).... the one thing i've never understood is this whole 'war on drugs' thing: the business is demand-led (with customers mainly in the US and Europe), so why being so obsessed about trying to cut the production of drug? As long as there's demand there'll be supply, given the profit margins involved. the only reason I can see is that it's a way for the US administration to have some involvement and political leverage over South American countries... (Also interesting to note that when heroin was legal in the UK, there was nowhere near the drug problems that there is now here with 'hard drugs')


Anyway... As said it's sad to see the coffee farmers of Bolivia being caught up in this

[Gouezeri]

I don't entirely disagree with you Ivo, but even if you only consider CoE as a means of generating interest, that alone maintains prices and creates a specific market, as do all auctions.

Look at it from the farmers point of view, without the competition and subsequent auction the likelihood of getting the same kind of exposure and the prices which result, are greatly reduced. I'm sure lots of shippers will continue to source from the contacts they have made, however, the whole ethos of CoE was to bring about change and education for all involved (not just the farmers), both socially and in the quality of the coffee, and that is likely to be greatly missed.

[Steve]

Cup of excellence or not. A good or even excellent coffee remains an excellent coffee.
With or a without a certificate an expert buyer knows whether a coffee is worth the money or not.
Just keep supporting the farmer who produces good, excellent coffees.

Ivo

I disagree here. Bolivia is very unique in that the cup of excellence is the ONLY way you can get single estate Bolivian coffee. Everything else is thrown together, and is seriously damaging the countries coffee. Some of those single estate coffees last year were truly amazing even earth shattering (I heard two of the most respected buyers in the world give 100% scores to the same coffee) and they will never see the light of day now due to the rubbish politics of one person. For me it sucks and I'm really sad that Bolivia will fade away from the world of speciality and will become the hunting ground for the buyers looking for a bargain and not the unique profile the beautiful country can offer.

Sorry if I'm up on my soap box, but these people deserve better, and it bothers me that everyone will lose out.

Steve

[Gouezeri]

it bothers me that everyone will lose out.

Precisely. Is there any likelihood of support being given via another organisation rather than USAID?

[Steve]

None what so ever I'm afraid. Its doom and gloom.

[Gouezeri]

so essentially you now stand a better chance of getting a kg of coke, rather than some high quality beans. Great!
More work for breako too!

[Steve]

No Comment

Not spot on Dom thats the way its going.

[Gouezeri]

Without wishing you to divulge any personal/commercial projects, have you spoken to any of the other judges? Any likelihood of buying consortiums so that the very best farmers at least have a proper market for their produce?

[Steve]

Bit early to say at the moment but there is a possiblity we may be able to bring some to the UK next crop (phone calls already made today), will know more next week after Bern. Fingers crossed we could se some, but not without an enourmouse ammount of work by the exporter/importer.

[tisri]

Hence the derivation of the word "politics" - poly (many), tics (blood sucking parasites)