1. Farmers with one or multiple farms who have won a Cup of Excellence award and who have unique, high quality coffee lots that will meet or exceed the coffee quality requirements and have the volume to be sold via an online auction.  These farmers must possess the necessary infrastructure for a successful auction.
2. Farmers with one or multiple farms who have successfully conducted an auction with ACE or on another platform and who have demonstrated to have unique, high quality coffee lots that will meet or exceed the coffee quality requirements and have the volume to be sold via an online auction.  These farmers must possess the necessary infrastructure for a successful auction.
3. Farmers who have one or multiple farms that are not located in a country with a Cup of Excellence competition who have unique, high quality coffee lots that will meet or exceed the coffee quality requirements and have the volume to be sold via an online auction.  These farmers must possess the necessary infrastructure for a successful auction.
4. Companies or organizations located in a Cup of Excellence partner country that represent multiple small farmers whose coffee lots meet or exceed the quality requirements and have the volume to be sold via an online auction.  These companies support Cup of Excellence, are not in conflict with a present COE, are willing to share transparency in the auction price paid to each farmer and have the necessary infrastructure for a successful auction.
5. Companies or organizations that represent multiple small farmers whose coffee lots meet or exceed the quality requirements and have the volume to be sold via an online auction but are not in a country that is presently executing a Cup of Excellence. These companies or organizations are willing to share price transparency in the auction price paid to each farmer and have the necessary infrastructure for a successful auction.

All coffee lots should score at least 85 points by at least 3 professional cuppers, have unique, positive attributes and meet or exceed the physical standards of SCA requirements for specialty coffee.

Farmer, company or organization must be willing and able to select and hold coffee lots to be scored, to send proper samples representing the actual coffee lots to potential cuppers and registered bidders, to uphold quality milling and storage recommendations, to organize payment and help coordinate shipping after the auction and to protect the quality and integrity of the lots.  

ACE reserves the right to decline or postpone any application if it feels the auction might negatively interfere or impact the Cup of Excellence program or if the number of approved applicants has already met or exceeded the capacity of the program. 

Priority will be given to farmers that have won a Cup of Excellence or have already completed an auction and to those organizations/companies that are building the quality infrastructure to bring in a Cup of Excellence program to their country.

If your farm, company or organization does not meet one of these 5 guidelines please contact ACE for further consideration. 

Further details, options and costs will be available upon confirmation of eligibility.