Cup of Excellence is one of the premier auction series highlighting the best coffees produced on a national level. Put on by the Alliance for Coffee Excellence (ACE), Cup of Excellence events have been held in nearly 20 producing countries as well as private collections and pilot events in emerging regions like Yemen (2022–2025) and Yunnan (2025), respectively. Sprudge has covered Cup of Excellence events around the world since 2010.
Last week, in a surprising turn, ACE announced the cancellation of the 2026 Taiwan Cup of Excellence.
Run annually since its 2023 pilot, Cup of Excellence Taiwan has been a joint effort by ACE, Taiwan Coffee Laboratory, and Coffee Industrial Alliance of Taiwan. On May 28th, ACE released a statement making public the 2026 event’s cancellation. From the statement:
As Cup of Excellence programs continue to grow internationally, ACE believes it is important that long-term governance structures include broad participation, clear communication, shared responsibility, and strong representation from across the coffee community. This includes producers, specialty coffee associations, public institutions, and industry leaders working together through a producer-focused steering committee structure…
While meaningful efforts were made along the way, ACE ultimately believes more time is needed to build a structure that reflects wider industry participation and long-term alignment around the shared mission of serving Taiwanese coffee producers.
Our hope is that this work will allow Cup of Excellence Taiwan to return in 2027 with a stronger foundation, broader industry support, and a governance structure that can serve producers and the Taiwanese coffee community well into the future.
In response, Cup of Excellence Taiwan released their own statement, stating in part:
Since 2021, Taiwan Coffee Laboratory (TCL) has collaborated with Alliance for Coffee Excellence (ACE) to organize and host international competitions and auctions, through which Taiwanese coffee proved its quality in more than 20 countries worldwide with a total cumulative auction weight of 4,165 kg and an average price of NT$5,760 per kilogram in a single event. This incredible achievement belongs to our coffee producers, our local and international buyers, our sponsors, and every volunteer who assisted with the competitions or their promotion. We salute you for putting Taiwan onto the map of coffee origins!
However, Taiwanese coffee now faces challenges from abroad. Since January, ACE has demanded the suspension of Cup of Excellence Taiwan on five separate occasions. In response to ACE demands and to advocate for the program’s continuation, TCL presented industry data, agricultural analysis, and protocol explanations. In the U.S. and Thailand, TCL twice appealed directly to the ACE Executive Director on behalf of Taiwanese producers… Regrettably, we were ultimately unable to sway ACE’s desire to suspend the competition.
The timing of the cancellation comes just one month after World Coffee Events, the for-profit arm of the Specialty Coffee Association, quietly and retroactively changed all mentions of Taiwan to Chinese Taipei on its website and social media accounts. In their statement, Cup of Excellence Taiwan alluded to something similar: “Even as the spirit of collaboration between ACE and TCL worsened and the conditions for the program’s continuation constantly shifted, we never once stopped fighting for Taiwan to compete internationally under its own name.”
Co-organizer Taiwan Coffee Lab announced they are in the process of creating an independent competition and auction. Sprudge has reached out to both ACE and the relevant organizations in Taiwan for additional comment. This story is developing.
Zac Cadwalader is the managing editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.
Top image via Taiwan Cup of Excellence Facebook
