FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Missoula MT. (November 1, 2007) - The Board of Directors for the Alliance for Coffee Excellence is pleased to announce that Erwin J Mierisch has accepted the position of Operations Manager.

The Operations Management position was created to ensure that the competition portion of the program is now managed mostly in the field with much more attention to the needs of the partner countries. The Operations office will also provide much needed support and education to the farmers, make certain the program is executed fairly and effectively as well as focusing on important export quality control procedures for the winning coffees.

Erwin Mierisch has worked with the COE program since its inception in Nicaragua in 2002. He has been the Central American coordinator as well as one of the COE quality coordinators and Head Judges. Erwin will be based in Nicaragua but will be responsible for all of the Cup of Excellence partner country programs.

The Alliance for Coffee Excellence, Inc corporate office will remain in Missoula, Montana USA and will continue to work with exemplary roasters worldwide as well as develop strategic growth plans for new country partners.

Since it’s beginnings in 1999, the Cup of Excellence® program has hosted programs in Brazil, Nicaragua, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica, Bolivia and Colombia. The Cup of Excellence program is managed by the non-profit Alliance for Coffee Excellence, Inc. The state of the art Cup of Excellence auction has been managed in partnership with CommoditiesOne, a leading software development firm since 2002. For more information about the Cup of Excellence program, to become a member log on to www.cupofexcellence.org.