EVENTS
Melbourne Coffee Week: Bigger. Better. Back. After three gruelling years, Australia’s biggest coffee events are returning to Melbourne this September. The industry is ready to make up for lost time with a week’s worth of activities to unite the coffee community once again.
T
he pandemic was economically devastating for Australia’s hospitality industry. Businesses along the coffee supply chain adapted on the fly to changing restrictions, technology, markets, and business models, all while largely isolated from industry peers. Now, after three years of postponement and cancellation, this September the De’Longhi Melbourne Coffee Week will bring Australia’s coffee sector together in person to compare notes, secure essential contacts and partnerships, and celebrate making it through years of seismic upheaval. Hario will introduce manual brewing instruments to further develop coffee brewer trends at MICE2022.
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Event sponsor De’Longhi will kick off the week with a launch party on 27 September. The following four days will see product launches, cuppings, training courses and the Asia-Pacific region’s largest dedicated coffee trade show, the Melbourne International Coffee Expo (MICE). Wrapping up the week on 30 September will be the World Barista and Brewer Championship Final, crowning the world’s best barista and brewer. The event will conclude with a bang, with several official after-parties scheduled to conclude the week’s festivities, essential items on the industry’s social calendar. More than 200 companies will exhibit
at MICE2022, showcasing the latest and greatest in roasting, equipment manufacturing, green beans, cup packaging, dairy and dairy alternatives, ancillary suppliers and much more. Exhibitors include large European and United States manufacturers, growers from across South America and Africa, and strong representation from a growing Asian market. Simon Coburn, General Manager of MICE, says he feels a buzz in the air when he talks to exhibitors and attendees about being face-to-face again in the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre. “In a normal year, MICE would expect about 11,000 attendees. This year, after three years with almost no in-person industry events, we could easily see 15,000,” says Simon. The industry landscape has changed dramatically since the last time Melbourne Coffee Week ran in 2019, according to Simon. “Companies have changed business models, found new markets, cut costs, and upgraded digital platforms, all with very little – or no – industry contact,” he says. “Part of the appeal for attendees is definitely the chance to size up their peers and see what everyone else has been doing.” But the main attraction for industry players, Simon says, is the opportunity to put their latest products in front of decisionmakers in the café industry, who will be trying equipment, tasting drinks, and meeting contacts face to face. “We have international companies who
