H.E. Ahmad Belhoul Al-Falasi, Minister of Education in the UAE, inaugurated, the ‘World of Coffee Dubai 2023’ exhibition today, Wednesday, January 11, 2023, which is being organised by ‘DXB Live’, the integrated event management and experiential agency of Dubai World Trade Centre, in cooperation with the Specialty Coffee Association.

The first day of the exhibition hosted a wide range of visitors and featured various activities and events, which will last until Friday, January 13, 2023, expecting over 1,500 international and regional companies and brands to participate in the event. Furthermore, the pioneering event serves as an ideal platform to congregate the leaders of the coffee industry, coffee connoisseurs and professionals from across the globe to explore newer avenues for development and various activities pertaining to the sector.

Khalid Al-Hammadi, Senior Vice President of DXB Live, said: “The second edition of World of Coffee Dubai 2023 is of high significance to the coffee sector given the increased level of global interest for participating in its numerous activities. This year, the exhibition has been successful in bringing together numerous industry leaders and professionals from global, regional, and local levels under one roof, further offering significant opportunities to strengthen networks, forge alliances, and discuss future prospects. Additionally, we hope that all attendees will have an exceptional and exciting experiences at the exhibition’s activities, events, and competitions this year.”

For his part, Khalid Al Mulla, Chief Executive Officer of the SCA UAE Chapter said: “This global exhibition plays a vital role in providing an ideal platform to congregate prominent specialists and pioneers of the global and regional coffee sector, and reflects Dubai’s commitment to strengthen commercial, economic and tourism sectors in the nation. The immense turnout of thousands of experts and specialists from across the globe in this exhibition and the business events hosted by the Emirate reflects the confidence of the international community and its recognition of the crucial role that Dubai plays in fostering commercial traffic at regional and global levels.”

In his turn, Yannis Apostolopoulos, Chief Executive Officer of the Specialty Coffee Association, said: “We are pleased to work with DXB Live to host this international event, which focuses on the global coffee industry. The exhibition’s opening day was packed with seminars and lectures,and we further express our gratitude to the judges and volunteers whose efforts made this exhibition possible.”

‘UAE National Barista Championship’ competition

Several activities and events were held on the first day of the exhibition, the most significant being the ‘UAE National Barista Championship,’ in which prominent and accomplished baristas from across the nation compete to qualify for the ‘International Barista Championship’. An international jury evaluated the entries based on the quality of the beverages, presentation, creativity, technical competence, and cleanliness.

The national championship aims to allow baristas to showcase their skills and creativity in the field of coffee making, as well as shed light on the barista profession and support excellence in the coffee industry, which consists of Benedictus Mbongiseni, La Maison Gateau Café, Pradip Basnet, Stomping Grounds; Nooran Albannay, Coffee Architecture; Sonam Sherpa, PDL Coffee & Co.; Mariam Eren Pinza, Cosmic Garden Coffee Roastery; Hibatul Wafi, Encounter Coffee Roastery; Drew Joshua Dennehy, Three Coffee; Lian Kriszle Sanglitan, Café 2.0; Aldy Nugroho, The Espresso Lab; Abdulla Almheiri, Coarse Coffee; And Kemal Risyad, Archers Café.

Dazzling offers and a tour of international coffee varieties

The exhibition offers a variety of unique experiences, as visitors flocked to the ‘Roosters Village’ pavilion to meet professionals from the coffee industry, learn about their methods of coffee preparation, and sample coffee variants prepared with unique and distinctive methods from around the world. The ‘Pro Bar’ also witnessed an impressive footfall for its unique experiences, in which 12 participating companies and brands got a three-hour period to display their coffee variants. The companies participating in the ‘Pro Bar’ included ‘Guatemalan Coffees’, ‘The Eco Machine’, ‘Corabot Coffee’, ‘Kirchanchi, El Patrón’, ‘Tess Super General Trading, Roasters’, ‘IST’, ‘Things Café’, ‘Coffee Trading’, ‘Coffee Planet’, and ‘Pani Coffee’.

Wide choice of coffee gourmets

During the first day of the exhibition, the ‘Cabin Room’ booth hosted four exhibitors: Earth Roastery, Skuvsna NV, the Alliances for Action initiative from the International Trade Centre, and

the Golden Cup Championship winners from Fairtrade Coffee. Each of them highlighted a particular variety of coffee beans and the unique roasting techniques used to prepare them and provided gourmet visitors and coffee enthusiasts with the opportunity to taste, assess, and compare them.

Lectures and workshops

Additionally, the exhibition further includes various insightful lectures and workshops delivered by prominent experts and pioneers of the coffee sector, who will offer valuable information on different methods of roasting, grinding, trading, marketing and distribution of coffee, Yannis Apostolopoulos, CEO of the Specialty Coffee Association, hosted the first day of the exhibition and delivered a talk titled ‘Coffee Value Assessment and Cupping: A Glimpse of the Future of Specialty Coffee’.

Furthermore a talk titled ‘Alpro plant based milk’ was conducted by Demian Burgess and Mirjen Gigsbers, and another titled ‘Slayer Espresso – Flavour profiling’ was presented by Aleksa Novichek of Gruppo Cimbali. The first day also witnessed two workshops titled ‘Discover Cascara – Tasting the Experience!’, which was moderated by Edgard Bresani, CEO, Latitudes Grand Coffees, Brazil; and the second workshop titled ‘Evolving the Cupping Protocol: An Introduction to the SCA’s Coffee Value Assessment System,’ was presented Kim Elena Lonescu, Chief Sustainability and Knowledge Development Officer.

The exhibition is open from Wednesday and Thursday, January 11 and 12, 2023, from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm, and Friday, January 13, from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm. For more information, visit – https://dubai.worldofcoffee.org/ or follow them on Instagram @worldofcoffeedubai.