BeanScene Magazine

In a major development for the Australian coffee industry, the Australasian Specialty Coffee Association has announced the Melbourne International Coffee Show, taking place at the city’s Showgrounds from 4 – 6 May next year.

The event will host over 100 international exhibitors, ranging from green bean traders, roasters, espresso equipment manufacturers and coffee franchises. Taking place on 8000 square metres of space in the Showgrounds’ Grand Pavilion, the show will be the largest coffee exhibition ever staged in Australia.

“The concept for the show has been developed through feedback from the industry to deliver what they need to bring Australia’s coffee industry forward,” says Show Director Clint Hendry.

The expo will also serve as the setting for the AASCA Australian Barista Championships. This will be the first time the competition has ever taken place in such a grand setting.

“This gives us an opportunity to hold the national competition in a world-class, dedicated coffee event,” says AASCA’s Craig Dickson. “We’ve never had this kind of opportunity before, to all come together in one space. I think that Australia is, in many respects, a world leader in espresso coffee. You can see this by our proven performance at international barista competitions, and it’s time we showed this to the rest of the world.”

In the last few years, Australian baristas have regularly placed in almost every major international competition. This year, Matt Perger placed third at the World Barista Competition, while Luca Costanzo placed third at the World Brewers Cup.

Australia has in the past made one failed attempt to host the World Barista Championships, and Pura’s Lance Brown is confident that with an event on the scale of the Melbourne International Coffee Show, the next attempt will be successful.

“I see this as a stepping stone to get the World Barista Championships to Australia,” says Lance. “So far, we’ve only been able to hold events inside other people’s shows. At every show, what’s gone on in my mind is, ‘Can’t we do something better?’”

At such a large scale venue, Lance says the show will be the ideal location for “all the decision makers” to meet in one spot, to not only celebrate the Australian coffee industry, but bring together major regional players at large to do business. Upon seeing how events like the Specialty Coffee Association of America’s annual Expo can serve as a central point of business for the Americas, Lance is confident that Australia can serve as the same central meeting point for the growing Asian market.

“Many people talk about why Australia is too far away, but when you think of our central location near Asia it’s actually quite perfect for anyone looking to penetrate that market,” he says. “Also, Australia is generally seen as a friendly place to do business.”

Already, the event has proven successful in growing the coffee community, with new players Iveco trucks jumping on board as a partner. In seeing the rapid growth of the Australian coffee industry, Iveco’s Meg Hurley notes that the company saw this as a great opportunity to not only to support a thriving scene, but grow their business in a market that fits well with Iveco’s Italian heritage.

“It’s really a perfect fit bringing together an Italian company and coffee,” she says. “While we may not be traditional coffee experts, we’ve been looking to expand into individual markets and this show proved a great opportunity to tap into the industry.”

Organiser Clint notes that they have already engaged some of the country’s leading publications to come on as official media sponsors, including Gram, BeanScene and Global Coffee Review. He says they’ll be looking to expand those partnerships over the coming months.

For more information visit
www.internationalcoffeeexpo.com