30 Sep 2021
The best of Fairtrade coffee: 2021 Golden Cup Results - so far
It is an exciting year for Fairtrade coffee! And as part of our celebration towards International Coffee Day, we wanted to give you an update on our Golden Cup competition worldwide.
If you are not sure what this is, the Golden Cup competition brings together coffee producers in each country to compete in a friendly manner for the highest quality coffee across a number of categories.
So far it has taken place in ten countries and four countries are still to come before the end of the year. In a time of uncertainty, the Golden Cup is a fantastic opportunity for coffee producers to connect with traders and roasters, foster relationships with potential new buyers, and get inspired by their peers. On many occasions, many of the winning samples have been taken to international trade shows, such as the Specialty Coffee Expo (USA) and World of Coffee (Europe).
CLAC
Commercial Manager of coffee at CLAC, João Mattos, explains the importance of the tournament for producers. “The main objective is to seek new customers for them and with prices above those practiced today. If we expand this commercialization of these coffees through Fairtrade, which has better prices than normal coffee, the producer will have more resilience”
In each country, a jury will assess the samples of Fairtrade producers, and then pick their favorites basing their scores on different attributes such as aroma, flavour and acidity, among others.
One of the judges, Tales da Silva de Souza is an R-Grader, a specialist in cupping specialty coffees of the Robusta variety and believes that this year will be good for Robusta’s. “Participation in competitions has increased and as the harvest this year was very good, the expectation is that the market is increasingly open to receive Robusta. We saw excellent coffee at the tasting table, with superior quality and that is very exciting” he explains.
A first for Ethiopia
Growing in numbers every year since 2015, the Golden Cup expanded to Africa for the first time in 2021, with a total of five countries hosting competitions. In Ethiopia, seven Fairtrade cooperatives took part in the event. The judges, who included both local and international professional Q-graders, had a tough choice ahead. Finally, the big winner of the day was announced. Torban Anfillo Coffee who received the coveted first prize for their Arabica variety of remarkable quality.
‘’We are very delighted to be the winner of this historic event. Our farmers are investing quality coffee to promote ‘Wallaga/Nakemte’ type coffee worldwide. Thank you, Fairtrade Africa, Judges and Organizing Committees, for the good work.’’ Expressed Mr. Chimsa Yosef Torban Anfillo, Coffee Marketing Manager at Torban Anillo Coffee
The backstage? Years of work and preparation
Many coffee producers have been working to achieve greater coffee quality for years. For example, by improving conditions in the fields and experimenting with different methods. Get to know some of them.
Meet Coopfam
Meet Cafesul
If you are a roaster or trader interested in purchasing coffees from the Golden Cup, please contact Joao Mattos at joao.mattos@clac-comerciojusto.org (Latin America) or Getahun Gebrekidan at g.gebrekidan@fairtradeafrica.net (Africa).
The Golden Cup competitions are carried out by the Fairtrade Producer Networks with support from Fairtrade International and International Trade Center (ITC) / Alliances for Action (A4A).