The best of Fairtrade specialty coffees was awarded during the sixth edition of the Golden Cup contest carried out by the Latin American and Caribbean Coordinator of Small Producers and Fair Trade Workers (CLAC) and the Salvadoran Coordinating Association of Small Producers Organized in Fair Trade (CESPPO).

“This is an award that recognizes the quality of the grain grown and its pillars of sustainability and seeks to convey the message that it is possible to generate business in specialty grain through fair trade,” said the executive director of CLAC, Xiomara Paredes.

«We want to show the world that Fair Trade coffee is not only inspired by the pillars of sustainability that are environmental, economic, and social, but that when they buy Fair Trade coffee they are also buying quality coffee, a specialty coffee,” he said.

The contest, which had the support of the Salvadoran Coffee Council (CSC), included the participation of the Los Pinos, ATAISI, San Carlos 2, and Siglo XXI cooperatives, who sent a total of nine samples for the contest that seeks to reward the best coffees from cooperatives certified in Fair Trade.

The awards ceremony, which took place at the Los Pinos cooperative facilities, was held in two categories: washed and natural.

In the first category, the winner of first and second place was the San Carlos II cooperative. The first place was won by a Bourbon variety coffee grown at an altitude of 1,567 meters, which scored 86.94 points, and the second was obtained by a Pacamara coffee grown at 1,500 meters, which scored 85.75 points.

In the case of the San Carlos II cooperative, the Golden Cup contest has helped to sell the winning lots at a good price. In 2022, the winning batch that obtained first place was marketed for $565 a quintal, according to the representative of this farm, Nery Sánchez.

“Fair Trade coffee can let the world know that it is good not only in the social part, but also in terms of quality,” he added, stressing the producer.

Meanwhile, in the washed category, the ATAISI cooperative won first and second place. The sample that won first place was a Pacamara coffee that was grown at 1,500 meters and reached 86.94 SCA points, and the second was for an orange bourbon that was 1,800 meters high and had a score of 85.75.

To formalize the process of choosing the winners, the Golden Cup had the participation of four expert tasters, three national and one international, according to CLAC. For his part, the president of CESPPO, Rigoberto Rojas, highlighted “the principles and values promoted by Fair Trade, an alternative trade model that puts human beings at the center and that promotes more equitable trade relations to achieve better living conditions for small producers,” he said.