Taza de Excelencia
Sources: Instituto Salvadoreño del Café (website); Café de El Salvador (website); Tierra Bendita (website)
Taza de Excelencia (ToE) is El Salvador’s national Cup of Excellence (CoE) program — an annual quality competition and auction that attracts international specialty coffee buyers willing to pay significant premiums above commodity prices. It is organized by the ISC and operated under license from the Alliance for Coffee Excellence Inc. (Portland, OR, USA), which owns the “Taza de Excelencia” trademark.
The program runs in multiple countries including Brazil, Burundi, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Rwanda, Peru, and El Salvador.
History in El Salvador
El Salvador’s Taza de Excelencia started in 2003. By end of 2022, the cumulative results were:
| Metric | Total |
|---|---|
| Lots auctioned | 544 |
| Quintals sold | 12,987 |
| Total revenue | $8.562 million |
| Average price | 6/lb) |
| Value added vs. traditional market | $7.062 million |
In 2026, the program broke a 3-year record for sample submissions, indicating growing producer participation. See Sensory Attributes and Value for the price premium drivers most relevant to El Salvador lots.
Edition-by-Edition Statistics (2003–2024)
Complete auction results by edition. The 2016 edition was not held. The 2020 max-price figure is a known data error on the source site ($475,607 matches the total revenue — not a per-quintal price).
| Edition | Inscribed | Winners | Quintales | Total US$ | Max $/Q | Top Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | 336 | 31 | 1,057.50 | $364,749 | $1,406 | 91.96 |
| 2004 | 403 | 35 | 1,340.00 | $291,277 | $689 | 90.96 |
| 2005 | 275 | 17 | 626.70 | $298,340 | $1,630 | 90.47 |
| 2006 | 182 | 23 | 867.10 | $407,440 | $1,704 | 94.00 |
| 2007 | 155 | 23 | 624.75 | $344,665 | $1,555 | 92.80 |
| 2008 | 192 | 26 | 1,040.50 | $557,987 | $2,010 | 92.67 |
| 2009 | 186 | 33 | 1,144.60 | $506,221 | $1,144 | 91.98 |
| 2010 | 124 | 30 | 994.30 | $718,838 | $2,800 | 91.05 |
| 2011 | 166 | 42 | 1,353.52 | $830,245 | $1,920 | 93.19 |
| 2012 | 98 | 28 | 851.56 | $715,766 | $2,650 | 90.82 |
| 2013 | 212 | 26 | 592.54 | $604,293 | $5,010 | 90.37 |
| 2014 | 139 | 33 | 524.51 | $508,271 | $2,950 | 91.41 |
| 2015 | 119 | 27 | 448.35 | $423,581 | $2,350 | 92.06 |
| 2016 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2017 | 184 | 24 | 259.00 | $353,541 | $9,570 | 91.28 |
| 2018 | 194 | 38 | 290.09 | $396,224 | $5,510 | 91.80 |
| 2019 | 128 | 25 | 283.12 | $385,158 | $6,400 | 90.57 |
| 2020 | 130 | 22 | 211.14 | $475,607 | data error | 90.31 |
| 2021 | 141 | 24 | 168.90 | $380,394 | $7,000 | 91.98 |
| 2022 | 110 | 27 | 188.79 | $244,162 | $7,220 | 91.82 |
| 2023 | 103 | 30 | 244.05 | $284,704 | $5,990 | 91.82 |
| 2024 | 79 | 30 | 227.60 | $397,291 | $12,200 | 92.00 |
Key trends: Maximum prices per quintal have risen dramatically — from ~5,000–12,200 in recent years, reflecting the global specialty coffee premium expansion. The 2024 edition’s $12,200/quintal record is the all-time high. Participating lot volumes have shrunk (from 1,000+ quintales in early editions to ~200–300 today), reflecting a shift toward fewer, higher-premium lots. (source: Café de El Salvador (website))
How It Works
- Producer submission: producers submit samples of their best lots
- National jury: Salvadoran cuppers evaluate and score all submissions using SCA/CQI protocols; lots scoring 87+ advance
- International jury: certified international cuppers re-evaluate the finalists; lots scoring 90+ are designated “Presidential” lots
- Online auction: international buyers bid on winning lots; prices are typically several multiples of commodity price
- Direct relationship: buyers transact directly with producers — a rare and valuable direct-trade connection
Varieties Promoted
The program specifically elevates El Salvador’s three signature varieties: Bourbon, Pacas, and Pacamara. This is strategic — all three are varieties Kaiserblick grows and processes. See Coffee Varieties for agronomic and cup profiles.
Plan Trifinio — Cross-Border Quality Competition
A related competition operating across the tri-border area where El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras meet (the Alotepec-Metapán zone and adjacent highlands). The Best of Trifinio award — won by Tierra Bendita’s BioKrop Project farms in 2019 — is a cross-border recognition distinct from the national ToE programme. It is organised under the Plan Trifinio international cooperation framework. Farms competing in Trifinio often also submit to national CoE programmes in their respective countries; the Tierra Bendita lots that won Trifinio 2019 were also COE National Finalists in El Salvador. (source: Tierra Bendita (website))
Notable Winners in Apaneca-Ilamatepec
SICAFESA (Sicafe) of Apaneca provides a benchmark for what sustained CoE performance looks like in this region: their La Siberia estate has won in 2005, 2007, 2008, 2012, 2021, and 2022; La Fany won in 2005; Llano Grande in 2010 and 2012. Their newest farm, El Angel (Santa Ana Volcano), took 2nd and 7th place in 2024. La Siberia also received 94 pts from Coffee Review in 2008 and 92 pts in 2009 and 2013. This track record shows that farms in the 1,400–1,675 masl range of Apaneca-Ilamatepec can consistently reach 90+ SCA scores year over year when quality systems are in place. (source: SICAFESA (website))
Strategic Relevance for Kaiserblick
Taza de Excelencia serves three functions relevant to Kaiserblick:
- Price benchmark: ToE auction results for Apaneca-Ilamatepec lots (14 of 30 winning lots in 2025 came from this region) establish what buyers will pay for premium lots — useful for negotiating direct-trade prices
- Brand signal: entering and qualifying in ToE provides independent third-party validation of quality, beyond Kaiserblick’s own cupping scores
- Buyer introduction: international buyers who participate in ToE auctions are exactly the specialty-focused importers and roasters Kaiserblick targets in the European market
The Green Coffee Trading strategy should consider regular ToE entry as both a quality validation mechanism and a marketing channel.