The human desire to win, to be acknowledged for achievement or to be recognised just for aspiration hasAward Trophy been the foundation of all progress in any field of life. In our coffee industry, the second largest in the world, there are so many aspects to the business that ultimately focus on the survival of the fittest.

The Awards for Coffee Excellence that the SCAE gives acknowledges people and organisations in different parts of the industry that work towards our aims for better quality in culture, production and presentation.

Nominated by members, and this year voted for by members too, the Awards acknowledge the effort made by individuals or groups. You can see the various categories of Award for 2010 by clicking here to visit the website. They will be presented during the SCAE Event at Caffè Culture in London this June.

The inspiration for the Awards came from Alf Kramer, who was behind the first presentation, when we gave out some “fun” Awards at our event in Rimini in 2004. The topics then were ‘Bold Initiative’, ‘Endurance’, ‘Miracle Maker’, ‘Producer’s Interest’, ‘Silent Achiever’, ‘True Sustainability’, ‘Vision of Quality’, ‘Worst Mistake’ and ‘Young Entrepreneur’. As you can see from the website, the number of categories is now much smaller, but they cover the main aspects of the trade and industry, and incorporate all of our ideals.

The actual trophies are based on a design inspired by the work of the Norwegian sculptor, Gustav Vigeland, (see right) whose monolith can be seen in the Vigeland Sculpture Park in Oslo. It interprets the human aim to reach higher levels of excellence by helping and supporting others in order to move upward together. Since 2006, we have had the Award trophies made by a Kenyan woodcarver, living near Mount Kenya in the coffee growing area.

Over the years, winners of the Awards for Coffee Excellence have been coffee shops and individuals that have incorporated novel ideas to promote their businesses, biased towards the quality of the coffee; coffee people who have spent time educating others in coffee technology and technique; and some who spend much of their free time inspiring others to enjoy the benefits of a well produced cup.

The producer has not been forgotten either, and we have recognised origin farmers who are experimenting all the time with methods to improve the crop, mills trying new ways of preparing the bean and others looking at the storage of the parchment before export. The award for Lifetime Achievement has been running since 2005, and it shows our appreciation for an individual who has dedicated much of his life to the promotion of quality.

Please look at the website and put forward the names of those that you think justify recognition for their efforts to improve coffee quality. We look forward in June to acknowledging the most inspiring people in the coffee business.