Winners of Peru Cup of Excellence announced
Hilda Leguia Gonzales took the top spot in the Peru Cup of Excellence as winning producer
Alliance for Coffee Excellence has announced the 24 Cup of Excellence winning coffees and 8 National Winner coffees from this year’s competition of Peru’s best coffees. These winning coffees represent seven regions across the country. The top scoring coffee, a washed 50% Gesha/50% SL-09 from the Cusco region, was the competition’s only Presidential Award with 90 points. The winning producer, Hilda Leguía Gonzales, made history as the second female winner in the competition’s history.
“I feel happy and excited, I want to thank all my family, especially my husband and children, who have worked next to me unconditionally. Additionally, I would like to thank the cooperative ‘VALLE DE INCAHUASI’, including the manager and technicians who helped me in this journey through many adversities,” said Hilda Leguía Gonzales. “We started working with specialty coffees about 3-4 years ago, implementing all the care needed, and our next step is to plant more Gesha coffee plants in the following years. We trusted our coffee was going to give good results in the competition, because we drink it – roasted in clay pots – and it gives us a lot of energy. I’d like to invite everybody to drink Peruvian coffee.”
Of the 184 samples entered into the competition, 36 passed to the International stage of the competition held at Global Coffee Centers (GCCs) in Norway, The UK, USA, Korea, China, Australia and Japan. From this final evaluation, 24 coffees scored 87 points or more and were deemed Cup of Excellence coffees. There were also eight coffees passed as semifinalists, or National Winners.
The 24 winning Cup of Excellence coffees will be auctioned online on 3 December with opening prices starting at $5.00/lb. The National Winner auction will go from 30 November – 14 December with lowered, tiered opening prices: $3.50/lb for 86+ points and $3.00/lb for 85-85.99 points.
Geni Fundes, general manager of Central Café & Cacao and General Coordinator of Cup of Excellence Peru 2020, highlighted that this competition, which has been held in Peru since 2017, contributes to the increase in coffee exports. It has also promoted the professionalisation of national coffee growers and increased domestic consumption of specialty coffees.
The Awards Ceremony was held virtually on Friday 30 October via the Digital National Platform for the Promotion of Coffee.
