President Tsai and President Alejandro Giammattei attend opening ceremony for month-long celebration of Guatemalan coffee culture
On the afternoon of April 26, President Tsai Ing-wen, accompanied by President Alejandro Eduardo Giammattei Falla of the Republic of Guatemala, attended the opening ceremony for a month-long celebration of Guatemalan coffee culture and invited the Taiwanese people to taste and experience Guatemalan coffee culture.
Upon arriving at the event, President Tsai and President Giammattei visited the Guatemalan coffee culture showroom and listened to Guatemalan Minister of the Economy Janio Moacyr Rosales Alegría introduce Guatemalan Sello Blanco (white-label) coffee and the art objects on display, and viewed a short video promoting Guatemalan coffee. Wu Yi-ling (吳怡玲), vice president of the Taiwan Coffee Association, then provided information on the three coffees chosen for the showroom and explained the concepts behind its design.
President Giammattei described the Sello Blanco program, saying that it is the only such label in the world to be issued by a country that also signifies the fight against poverty. When people see it, he said, they know it represents disadvantaged populations, families, and ethnic groups who are diligently working to lift themselves out of economic hardship. President Giammattei explained that purchasing white label products thus means helping those people escape poverty faster so that the nation as a whole can prosper.
President Giammattei noted that purchasing Sello Blanco coffee is meaningful in two ways: First, consumers can take home the best coffees in the world and savor Guatemala's most fragrant beans. Second, each consumer can bear a portion of the social responsibility in helping impoverished families move past poverty. Guatemala has therefore chosen its best friend and ally, Taiwan, as the first stop in promoting the Sello Blanco program, he added. Saying that this is a first step in preventing and eradicating poverty, President Giammattei expressed gratitude to Taiwan for giving them the chance to begin realizing their dream here.
President Tsai and President Giammattei then sat down for a tasting of Guatemalan Anacafé 14 coffee brewed by 2017 World Brewers Cup champion Chad Wang (王策), who demonstrated pour-over techniques. They also viewed two works of latte art representing our respective countries, "Formosan Black Bear" and "Guatemalan Resplendent Quetzal," crafted on site by 2019 World Latte Art championship second-place winner Chen Hao-yuan (陳顥元), who also explained the meaning behind his art.
Following the tasting, President Tsai and President Giammattei participated in a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a coffee truck promoting Guatemalan coffee. The truck will tour Taiwan through June 4, stopping in multiple locations to spread the coffee culture of Guatemala.
President Giammattei thanked Taiwan for giving his delegation a chance, through this visit, to get closer to Asia, and he explained once again the significance of the Sello Blanco program. He expressed his hope that the program will help more of his fellow citizens overcome difficult circumstances. He also gave a special thanks to President Tsai, the Taiwan Coffee Association, and King Car Group for their support and assistance, and voiced his confidence that everyone will be enjoying the very best coffee.
The Guatemalan coffee culture showroom, opened under the joint efforts of the Guatemalan government and the Taiwan Coffee Association, will run for six weeks in the Mr. Brown Coffee shop located near the National Taipei University of Technology campus. The showroom offers coffees from three of Guatemala's major growing regions, including Antigua, and gives visitors the chance to see and learn more about the coffee, culture, and art of Guatemala.
Among those attending the event were Guatemalan Congressional President Shirley Joanna Rivera Zaldaña, Minister of Foreign Affairs Mario Adolfo Búcaro Flores, Minister of the Economy Rosales, and Guatemala Ambassador Oscar Adolfo Padilla Lam.