Once a year, the “BEST OF PANAMA” Competition, an international coffee tasting contest, takes place at the coffee producing region, where specialists from the United States, Europe and Japan are invited to test and to select the best specialty coffees of Panama. Afterwards, small lots of selected coffees are auctioned online. It is important to point out that Panama has broken world high-price records on coffee auctions by registering an exceptional price of US$130 a pound.
Moreover, Panama participates in the Annual Conference organized by the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA), where a coffee tasting of the best coffees of the world is carried out. Since 2004, Panama has been awarded first places during four years in a row in two different categories. Our challenge: Creation of the "Appellation System of Controlled Certification of Origin" (Industrial or Intellectual Property)
Panama is currently working on completing this ambitious project, which is the previous step to request protection for regions and sub-regions of Volcán-Candela and Boquete to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry of the Republic of Panama. The Appellation System of a region or locality serves to designate a native product as originary of this region, whose quality or features depend exclusively or essentially on its geographical environment, including natural factors as well as human factors.
