Tag: World of Coffee 2024

Specialty Coffee Association Releases Its 2024 Annual Report

Posted on by Qahwa World

The Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) has released its 2024 Annual Report, signed by Chief Executive Officer Yannis Apostolopoulos, highlighting a transformative year marked by new quality standards, record membership growth, scientific advancements, and unprecedented global expansion in education and events — all with a strong focus on sustainability, research, and equitable value distribution across the coffee industry.

According to the report, 2024 represented a pivotal year for the SCA, as it officially adopted and published the new Coffee Value Assessment (CVA) standards, replacing the long-standing 2004 cupping form. This milestone positioned the CVA as the official protocol for global coffee quality evaluation. The association recorded more than 10,000 downloads of the CVA forms, over 1,500 learners enrolled in the “CVA for Cuppers” course, and more than 130,000 views on its CVA educational video series on YouTube. Additionally, the SCA waived course fees for over 500 coffee professionals in producing countries, ensuring broader and fairer access to professional education.

A major achievement highlighted in the report was the introduction of a new membership model offering free access to the SCA’s resources, educational programs, and events. This initiative led to exponential growth, bringing the association’s global community to over 100,000 companies and coffee professionals within just six months — a reflection of its ongoing mission to make knowledge and opportunities accessible to all who contribute to the specialty coffee industry.

The report also emphasized the strong research momentum driven by the Coffee Science Foundation (CSF), which supported six flagship projects in 2024. These included studies on physical defects in green coffee, developing a universal roast measurement system, exploring sweetness perception, analyzing the impact of packaging on consumer experience, and understanding how value is created and distributed throughout the coffee value chain. These efforts underscore the SCA’s commitment to fostering data-driven innovation and sustainability.

Globally, the SCA expanded its footprint through multiple major events. The “World of Coffee” trade shows took place in Dubai, Chicago, Busan, and Copenhagen, serving as platforms for knowledge exchange, business, and innovation. Notably, 2024 marked the first-ever World of Coffee held in Asia — in Busan, South Korea. The year also saw the launch of the Coffee Value Summit in Shenzhen, China, focusing on value creation and the implementation of the CVA. Other initiatives included “Green Coffee Connect,” fostering relationships between producers and importers, and the “Retail Buyer’s Lounge,” designed to enhance business networking during trade shows.

Following a period of financial stabilization from 2020 to 2023, the SCA strategically reinvested in 2024 to expand access to education, fund critical research, and strengthen partnerships. The association maintained a balance between program growth and fiscal responsibility, ensuring its ability to continue serving the global coffee community despite economic uncertainty.

In the area of education, the SCA organized five Educator Summits across Asia and the United States, providing platforms for trainers and educators to enhance their teaching and professional development. Comprehensive multilingual surveys were also conducted to gather feedback from trainers and learners, leading to further curriculum improvements and the development of new systems to support global education in coffee.

Looking ahead, the report outlined ambitious plans for 2025, including the launch of a comprehensive coffee evaluation program in partnership with the Coffee Quality Institute (CQI), expanded educational offerings for green coffee sellers and retailers, the creation of online forums to connect the global coffee community, and continued research into equitable value distribution and sustainability across the coffee value chain.

The 2024 Annual Report reaffirms the SCA’s role as a leading global organization uniting research, education, standards, and events to build a more sustainable, inclusive, and equitable future for the specialty coffee industry worldwide.

Emirates National Barista and Latte Art Championships Converge at ‘World of Coffee 2024’ in Dubai

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The World of Coffee 2024 is set to hold two national championships – ‘UAE National Barista Championship’ and the ‘UAE National Latte Art Championship’ — from January 21-23 at Dubai World Trade Centre.

The third edition of the event, targeting industry professionals, is being organised by DXB Live, the integrated event management and experiential agency of Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC), in collaboration with the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA).

The UAE National Barista Championship will convene the country’s skilled coffee preparation and presentation professionals under one roof, where the best baristas in the UAE will showcase their talents and capabilities before a diverse audience, including experts, specialists, and enthusiasts.

An international team of judges will evaluate the participants based on the quality of the beverage, presentation technique, creativity, and technical proficiency.

The championship aims to underscore the barista profession and elevate the level of excellence in the coffee sector by offering experts the opportunity to exhibit their skills and innovative approaches.

The event will also set the stage for the ‘World Barista Championship’, one of the most renowned international coffee competitions, in which winners of the national barista championships held across the globe will compete on a global level.

The ‘UAE National Latte Art Championship’ will exhibit the artistic and creative capabilities of baristas in the preparation of lattes. During the competition, a judging panel will evaluate entries based on visual and creative aspects, with a key focus on diversity in styles and overall taste.

The championship will be conducted following the specific judging rules, regulations, and standards used in global coffee events.

Khalid Al Mulla, Chief Executive Officer of the Specialty Coffee Association – UAE Chapter, said: “Such tournaments and competitions signify our vision to position Dubai as one of the most active regional centres for fostering innovation and excellence in the coffee sector and offering a dynamic platform for skilled individuals to exhibit their expertise in the field as well as to elevate barista techniques and skills.

“Aside from providing these benefits, it also gives remarkable experience to coffee lovers.”

Shouq BinRedha, Exhibition Manager of World of Coffee 2024, said: “These events will provide us with an opportunity to explore recent trends and approaches as well as barista innovations that can redefine the future of the industry both regionally and globally.

“In our opinion, the active participation of professionals, experts, and international companies from across the globe as well as the convergence of diverse cultures during the exhibition will play a key role in the development of this industry.

“Furthermore, the UAE being home to various renowned global coffee chains and Dubai a region-wide leader in terms of bringing innovation to the industry reinforces the exhibition status in the sector.”

Besides these activities, the World of Coffee Dubai will also be hosting two other competitions, namely ‘Coffee Design Awards’ and ‘Best New Product’. These competitions aim to recognise and celebrate innovation, promote collaboration, and explore industry prospects.

The ‘Coffee Design Awards’ will showcase participants’ inspiring designs, including packaging, designing brand logos, equipment, and space decor, evaluated by an expert panel. The ‘Best New Product’ competition highlights innovative and high-value new products in the coffee industry.

Furthermore, the exhibition will feature a wide array of events and activities, including ‘Roasters Village’, ‘Cupping Room’, and ‘Brew Bar’.

It will also include several panel discussions and specialised workshops focusing on sustainability, optimal resource management, and sustainable practices, signifying the global coffee community’s commitment to encouraging the responsible production of coffee.

World of Coffee Dubai will attract coffee enthusiasts, experts, and professionals, providing a dynamic platform to connect with the global coffee community, discover new products, share insights, and build connections with industry leaders, said a statement.

Attendees will include leading coffee experts, pioneers, café owners, and baristas.

 

A busy program of World of Coffee Dubai 2024 and events promoting companies in the global coffee industry

Posted on by Qahwa World

The World of Coffee 2024 Exhibition, one of the most anticipated events in the coffee industry, announced the holding of a group of events aimed at enhancing cooperation and partnership between exhibitors and specialized visitors, and exploring the features of the future of the coffee industry, which is witnessing great prosperity.

The agenda of the third edition of the World of Coffee Exhibition, organized by DXB Live, the arm providing integrated event organization and management services at the Dubai World Trade Centre, from 21 to 23 January 2024, includes a wide range of events and activities, including:

This is the Roosters Village area and the Cabin Room and Brew Bar suites; The exhibition devotes a wide space to sustainability in the field of coffee, including organizing a group of dialogue sessions and specialized workshops on sustainability, the best methods for exploiting resources, and sustainable practices that embody the global coffee community’s commitment to responsible production.

The exhibition will witness the launch of a number of new events, including the Franchise Village, a space that brings together leading brands wishing to expand their business in the region, with serious investors looking to invest in establishing branches of well-known brands in the field of coffee. This enhances the exhibition’s position as an important platform for exploring horizons and opportunities for growth and cooperation between industry leaders, including merchants, farmers, distributors, buyers, and roaster owners.

The “Buyers Program” and the “Buyers Lounge” are among the most prominent programs and facilities included in the exhibition, as the program allows for the preparation of scheduled meetings between buyers, farmers, merchants, distributors, roaster owners, and nutrition managers and officials in hotels, restaurants, cafes, and airline companies, so that the meetings take place according to a specific schedule and dates. In advance in the buyers’ lounge, which adopts an innovative methodology that contributes to enhancing communication and interaction between industry leaders, providing an ideal environment and a unique work atmosphere for cooperation, building partnerships, and discussing potential deals between parties.

The event is characterized by holding a series of dialogue sessions and free workshops, and the space allocated for the sessions will be doubled in this session to establish two large theaters, one for the dialogue sessions of the Specialty Coffee Association, and the second for the Unfiltered Theater, which will host expanded dialogue sessions in the presence of dozens of international experts and specialists, to talk about new trends, discoveries, and the latest products. In the world.

The “Roosters Village” area and the “Cabinet Room” and “Brew Bar” pavilions are also doubling their area to meet the increasing demand for participation. The “Roosters Village” area is considered one of the most attractive areas for the public, and it has similar display platforms equipped with a coffee machine and a water source, while Exhibiting companies bring in their own coffee beans and prepare the coffee; The region brings together dozens of brands from all over the world, with specialized visitors, providing them with the opportunity to taste roasted coffee prepared in different ways.

The “Cabinet Room” pavilion allows its visitors to taste coffee varieties, evaluate their quality, and compare them. Each company displays for an hour to buyers and the public a group of coffee flavors to taste and compare between them. As for the “Pro Bar” pavilion, it consists of two large platforms that can accommodate 12 companies. Each of them can use the platform for 3 hours to prepare different coffee flavors, while visitors and buyers move between companies to taste the coffee and watch the barista prepare unique coffee drinks in innovative ways

  • A platform for innovation

In order to encourage innovation and development, the exhibition’s activities will include the Coffee Innovation Platform Award, “Coffee Design Award,” and the Best New Product Award, “Best New Product Award.” “Coffee Design Award” is concerned with keeping pace with the latest developments in coffee preparation techniques and equipment, and the latest sustainable practices. The award areas include: design, packaging, branding, cups and coffee pampers. The contestants submit their designs on the website of the two competitions before the exhibition, so that the judges can choose the winner of the competition’s logo for the year, which is what all contestants passionately seek to win the International Specialty Coffee Association Award as the best design, or the best product in the world for the year 2024. The exhibition will witness the organization of regional and international competitions to provide a comprehensive experience for coffee lovers.

  • Enhance participants’ experience

In this regard, Khaled Al Hammadi, Senior Vice President of DXB Live, said: “We seek to strengthen the position of the World of Coffee Exhibition to be the first global destination for coffee industry leaders. We are keen for the event to go beyond the concept of traditional trade exhibitions, to become the first global platform for those interested and experts.” And specialists to keep pace with the latest industry trends, and explore innovative ways and smart, environmentally friendly methodologies to enhance the growth and sustainability of the sector.” He added: “The event is an important opportunity to learn about the sources of coffee beans, roasters and coffee supply chains, and to review the latest developments in the fields of packaging, distribution and production. There is no doubt that the exhibition’s activities “The various programs, especially the buyers’ program, will enhance the participants’ experience and enable them to communicate directly to grow their businesses and ensure their sustainability.”

  • A leading platform

The Dubai edition of the World of Coffee exhibition is the preferred destination for companies aspiring to strengthen their presence in the Middle East and benefit from the enormous potential of the coffee markets in the region in light of the growing demand for high-quality coffee and the increasing demand for modern café chains. DXB Live seeks to provide a pioneering platform that enhances the growth and sustainability of the coffee industry, by setting new standards for the coffee industry.

The importance, efficiency and innovation in organizing international exhibitions, and providing a platform that meets the needs of the various poles of the coffee industry, and brings together brands, farmers, producers, distributors, experts and specialists under one umbrella, to share their expertise and experiences, display their latest products, and develop their cooperation with potential partners and buyers.