Winners Of The Awards For Coffee Excellence 2009

Congratulations to the following winners of the SCAE Awards for Coffee Excellence 2009, presented June 27 in Cologne:

Winner of The Young Entrepreneur Award:

Filip Åkerblom (Sweden)

Filip Åkerblom, an up-and-coming coffee entrepreneur, started his interest in quality coffee at the beginning of 2004, with a focus on sourcing coffee and roasting locally, direct to consumers. He was educated in Europe, USA and producing countries, with a focus on understanding the product chain from the beginning to the end.

Filip today is active in three companies within the speciality coffee field: Brasett AB in trading green beans, and also retailing in Scandinavia to micro roasters; Lilla Kafferosteriet AB, a micro roastery and coffee bar in the south of Sweden; and Svenska Specialkaffe Akademin, with education for the national and international coffee business.

Filip is a certified brewmaster by both the SCAE and the SCAA, and also an authorised trainer for the SCAE. He been judging in seven Cup of Excellence competitions and speaking at an international level at the EAFCA conference, Caffe Culture in London and at SCAE conferences. All this within five years--that's a thorough coffee entrepreneur by age 31.

Winner of The Hidden Treasure Award:

Rob Berghmans (Belgium)

Rob has two coffee shops in Antwerp. A very famous one "CafféNation". (I may not say this very loud, but almost the only place to drink a good espresso or cappuccino.) You find Ché Guevara on his wall. A lot of young people, students, artists. If you enter you think...my goodness what is this, so disorganised, so many people. In the corner in a cosy chair you see a man read a book, his dog lies on his feet. Everybody is talking, laughing...and then Rob walks in... and in two minutes he organises the chaos behind his bar. At his side is Bert, we really call him Bert, like in Sesame Street.

And then you see Rob teaching his staff, but also people in front of the bar. He is doing it in a way that everything is simple. Direct, strong and simple. He is so passionate about coffee. He organises barista jams, cuppings--all in his little coffee shop. He doesn't care about furniture, structure--he just shows what he knows. He never asks for money for it. He thinks that he has to spread the message--Make a GOOD coffee.

Behind his bar, he has sacks of special coffees. Every week he goes to his roaster and asks for something new. Single origins. Put them on the bar. Sell them. Let people try. He grinds it like the customer wants or needs. For the Eva Solo, the French press, or the espresso machine. When you buy his coffee, you get a complete story of taste and smell--you have to buy it, you have to drink it.

He is the first one with coffee to go to in Antwerp. The whole town knows him, talks about his paper cups, and he has a lot of little coffee shops he helps: he gives them advice about coffee, the coffee menu, how to organise the work behind the bar.

He just sells coffee, some machines, grinders. He is not a member. He is just always around. He doesn't want to be in a war between some members. He just wants to make coffee and teach. Now he will start his own roaster project. He is growing and growing. And stays so simple. So open. He has a big heart, and an open mind. He is one of the first people in Belgium to promote speciality coffee, the drive behind the world of coffee, in fact. He is so passionate that a lot of young people are around him. Getting on his high quality, positive energy train. He is always searching for new information, to make something of his own about it. I call him a hidden treasure because he is not in the picture, he doesn't want that. His power is in competing, training his pupils, staying close to them and helping them.

Winner of The Passionate Communicator Award:

Franz Grünwald (Austria)

Born on the 1st of October 1964 (dedicated to the Day of Coffee in Austria), in Vienna, the world famous City of coffee (house) culture.

Profession: Cook & Waiter, 30 years experience in gastronomy, 17 years self-employed person (restaurant, coffee-bar, coffee-shop).

Since 2000, passionate coffee-lover, own roasted coffee in the bars, visiting coffee farms in Brazil.

Since March 2003, Head of the Tchibo Coffee Academy responsible for HoReCa including 400 national and international customer training sessions held in D, A, CH, CR, H, VAE, GR, CZ, NL, UK.

New product development (coffee cocktails, coffee drinks). Customer support, pre-openings and openings. Training in operations. Catering and facility services for new Customers. Training tools development to raise business volume and customer loyalty.

From now on until the end of 2010: change 400 fully automatic coffee machines to semi-automatic machines, using two blends and two grind-on-demand-grinders, in the German Tchibo retail stores.

Activities: SCAE Austrian Barista Champion 2006, Competitor WBC in Berne, 2006 (rank 21); Competitor SCAE Austrian Cup Tasting Championship 2008. SCAE Judge: Barista, Latte Art & Coffee in Good Spirits Championships 2008, 2009, Germany; Barista, Latte Art & Coffee in Good Spirits Championships 2007, Austria; SCAE Head Judge: Barista, Latte Art, Coffee in Good Spirits, Cezve Ibrik Championships 2009, Austria; Barista, Latte Art, Coffee in Good Spirits Championships 2008, Turkey; Volunteer, SCAE World Championships, Antwerp & Copenhagen.

SCAE Barista Level I, II and III (first Certified Master Barista), SCAE Brewmaster
SCAE Barista Certifier Level I & II, SCAE Train the Trainer. First SCAE member to pass all tests and diplomas.

Winner of The Outstanding Producer Award:

Ipanema Coffees (Brazil) Ipanema Coffees

If we were to look for a word to identify Ipanema Coffees' placement in the world markets it would certainly be INNOVATIVE. Ipanema maintains the obsession in its search by always reviewing its concepts, its positioning and its products. That is a result of one of its basic values: Be better than yesterday! All the efforts put forth by the team have as its objective reaching the best possible quality in the end product. This in turn creates the perception of excellence both in the production of the best coffees and the social and environmental commitments. Each little detail makes the difference in obtaining this excellence. From the selective harvest to the selection of varieties to be planted running through the modern milling infrastructure and the innovative electronic selection technology, all of this guarantees Ipanema's clients consistency and traceability in its products shipped to over the 15 countries in which it is found. Ipanema went to the vineyards for inspiration on how to evaluate and choose the uncountable production areas. Using the Terroir concept, Ipanema set out to create its 12 different coffee labels and blends.

The Ipanema "Estate Coffees" concept was created in 1993 by characterising each preparation or variety through distinct labels and logos. This makes Ipanema Coffees recognisable in any place in the world.

Representatives from the Rainforest Alliance announced the results of the 2009 Rainforest Alliance Cupping at the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) conference in Atlanta. The top ranking farms were among 80 Rainforest Alliance Certified farms in 11 countries that participated in the organisation's cupping events. Ipanema's sample was the winning lot from Brazil.

Equal Partners Programme: The Equal Partners programme seeks to create commercial opportunities for small-scale producers of specialty coffee to sell their products on the international market with added value. Through the partnership, producers know what type of coffee to produce, how the coffee will be prepared, to whom and for how much it will be sold. On the other hand, Ipanema can increase its sales volume and create new opportunities for clients.

Social: In 1997 the company began analysing all donation and project sponsorship requests through a forum, composed of worker volunteers, created to assess and discuss the social realities that surround it and find ways to assist in solving them. This committee's experience gave birth to Instituto Ipanema in 2000. The Institute is committed to guiding, sponsoring, promoting and implementing social work programmes, aiming at fulfilling our role as a socially responsible corporate citizen. Clients are partners in these projects. More than 10 social programmes are headed by the company. To learn more about the programmes, visit: www.ipanemacoffees.com.br/en/social/

Environment: The "Ipê Amarelo Project" aims at short and long term actions intended to minimise the impacts its activities have on its human and natural resources. Four distinct lines of action are followed: Traceability Process, Occupational Health and Safety, Ecosystem Conservation, and Reduction of Significant Impacts. To read more about the project, visit: www.ipanemacoffees.com.br/en/environmental

Winner of The Lifetime Achievement Award:

Neal Robinson, Bunn-o-Matic Corp (United States)

Since joining the coffee community in 1986, Neal Robinson has worked tirelessly to promote consumption of specialty coffee around the globe.

As Senior Vice President, International Sales for BUNN-O-Matic Corporation, he travels throughout Europe, the UK, Middle East and the Pacific Rim, carrying the message that well-prepared beverages made with high-quality specialty coffees are essential profit-centers for chefs, restaurateurs, hotel operators and caterers.

Neal's keen understanding of the importance of local brewing standards, combined with his appreciation for the hard work invested by many hands along the seed-to-cup value chain make him an ideal candidate for this award.