Rob Butterworth of Butterworth & Son in Suffolk visits The World of Coffee and discovers new innovations and more

This month, I visited the biggest event on the coffee industry’s calendar, the World of Coffee. This event is put on by the Speciality Coffee Association (SCA) and changes venue annually.

This year, the event was held in Athens previously, Warsaw had been cancelled due to the Pandemic and Berlin in 2019 was the last time the event had been held.

World of Coffee is the pinnacle of what’s best in the industry with global coffee competition finals for Ibrik, Barista Comps, Brewers Cup & Cup Tasters all being held there. The competitions provide a platform for competitors to showcase their skills and finalists often go on to write books and win investment deals to kick-start businesses.

The event also plays host to many trade stands with exhibitors from all over the world showcasing their wares. Products include green coffee suppliers (the format roasteries use), crockery, equipment, packaging, consultancy, software.

The SCA also awards new innovation in the ind2ustry with recognition given in several categories.

One of my favourite new products, which I came across at the Amsterdam Coffee Festival earlier this year, is the Latte Art Factory, pictured. This tech dispenses two milk types with just over 100 presets. With options to adjust temperature from 1C-76C, density of foam and volume, I could see this equipment becoming extremely popular in a hospitality environment where high staff turnover, milk wastage and inconsistency can cause difficulties for businesses.

One might argue that the LAF takes away some of the skill from a barista, however, in a high pressure busy café environment the LAF would allow the barista to focus on the coffee component and the latte art.

The Latte Art Factory took the best new product award from the show.

Next year, the event will be held in Copenhagen, June 27-29. See you there?

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