Every year, the number of coffee industry events held around the world only continues to grow. Although most take place in majority-consuming countries, more and more organisers have started to host trade shows and expos at origin in a bid to improve accessibility.
The benefits of attending and exhibiting at industry events are indisputable. In addition to experiencing the latest trends and technologies firsthand, coffee professionals can network, build relationships, and potentially secure new customers. For a budding coffee shop owner or new roaster, taking part in events is vital to build brand visibility.
But with more and more trade shows scattered across the globe, travel and logistical expenses quickly start to add up – and not everyone can afford the costs. Moreover, the pressure to turn up to as many events as possible is felt by many, with the fear of missing out becoming all too real.
So has the cost of attending events made them too inaccessible for most coffee professionals? Or are there ways to still engage with trade shows that are more affordable?
To find out, I spoke to Andrea Melo-Leon, COO at Producer & Roaster Forum, Steve Moloney, founder of Ordna Event Agency, Navin Rajes, Director of MSP Coffee, Sierra Roberts and Camilo Arbelaez, co-founders of Encantado Coffee, and Spencer Ross, Associate Professor of Marketing at University of Massachusetts Lowell.
You may also like our article on why it’s important to host events in producing countries.
Trade shows, expos, and festivals are some of the most engaging events in the coffee industry. Baristas, roasters, traders, producers, equipment manufacturers, and other brands have the opportunity to showcase their products, connect with their peers, and learn more about the latest market trends.
In recent years, events increasingly have an emphasis on education, too. Many include lectures, seminars, panels, workshops, and live demonstrations for attendees to gain as much value as possible. What’s more, many of the industry’s high-level competitions take place at some of the biggest coffee events of the year – showcasing exciting new coffees and innovative brewing techniques.
Although there are hundreds of local, regional, and international coffee events held across the globe every year, a few stand out as must-attend trade shows. Events like World of Coffee, Specialty Coffee Expo, HostMilano, and London Coffee Festival regularly draw in tens of thousands of visitors every edition.
Sierra Roberts and Camilo Arbelaez are the co-founders of Encantado Coffee – an exporter which focuses exclusively on sourcing specialty coffee from Colombia.
“Coffee events are a great way to meet and network with other people in the industry,” Sierra says. “The 2024 Specialty Coffee Expo in Chicago was our first coffee event since we started Encantado in November 2023. Expo hosted a variety of lectures covering topics like marketing, retail, and challenges that small exporters face, which were incredibly useful to us.”
Camilo adds: “It was also inspiring to hear the stories of other coffee businesses that have succeeded in their niche markets, and to get a feel for upcoming trends in the specialty coffee industry.
“From our perspective as a small two-person operation, the biggest thing you miss out on when you don’t attend events is the social aspect of in-person networking with other coffee professionals and businesses,” he continues.
When the time comes every year, many of us are asked if we will be at the industry’s biggest (and arguably most important) events. For larger and more established companies, covering attendance expenses is much easier, while smaller-sized businesses and independent coffee professionals may struggle to pay travel and accommodation costs.
Moreover, with events like World of Coffee now taking place in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East (with a Latin American event also set for 2026), costs for visitors and exhibitors only increase.
Steve Moloney is the founder of Ordna Event Agency, which organises events like The Barista League in many different countries and Nordic Coffee Fest in Sweden.
“Since the pandemic, travel and accommodation costs have increased dramatically, which has made attending events a lot more expensive,” he says. “So maybe it has become unrealistic to attend every trade show, but there are so many interesting local and smaller festivals that you can still engage in without breaking the bank.”
At the same time, there is a lot of value in attending the biggest industry events, but it’s not always achievable for some.
Spencer Ross is an Associate Professor of Marketing at University of Massachusetts Lowell and a specialty coffee enthusiast. While on a Fulbright Research Exchange in Colombia, he tells me he spoke to local industry professionals about attending the Specialty Coffee Expo, which takes place in a different US city every year.
Out of curiosity, Spencer explains he calculated attendance costs, including visas, flights, accommodation, entry badges, meals, and additional spending.
“The approximate cost for one person to attend is US $1,992, while the average annual income for a coffee farmer in Colombia is about US $789,” he tells me. “The pass itself is not even one-fifth of the total cost, so 80% is spent on travel expenses, which makes it more challenging for low-income producers to attend.”
Inevitably, this means taking part in key industry events is impossible for many producers – particularly smallholders who may make less than a living wage. Among the many issues this creates, gatekeeping market access is one of the most obvious.
“Moreover, some producers don’t speak sufficient English to fully engage with other event attendees, which marginalises them even further,” Spencer adds.
Navin Rajes is the Director of MSP Coffee – a coffee farm in Tamil Nadu, India. As a producer, he explains why attending events is important.
“You can network and gain exposure by sitting behind a screen at home, but human connection is also very important,” he says. “This is what helps establish long-term relationships, and a lot of aspects of coffee trade are based on trust. Meeting people and putting a face and personality to the voice on the phone or the name in the email signature is essential.”
Given, however, that most industry events are held in majority-consuming countries, it can be incredibly challenging for many producers and other coffee professionals at origin to afford travel and logistical costs.
Additionally, most trade shows and expos are targeted towards the market that roasters, coffee shop owners, and traders operate in, which is more consumer-facing. In this regard, producers would receive little value from attending.
To address these issues, events like PRF bring industry professionals together in origin countries in a format that best serves the needs of producers. This year, the first-ever PRF: Farm Summit will take place entirely on a coffee farm on 17 & 18 October with a unique focus on regenerative agriculture and organic farming.
Andrea Melo-Leon is the COO at PRF. She explains how the format of the event is more geared towards industry professionals in producing countries.
“Hosting events at origin instead of majority-consumer countries has significant implications for the industry,” she says. “Producers have a more prominent platform to showcase their products and directly engage with roasters and buyers.
“This helps to amplify their voices, which are often underrepresented in the global coffee trade,” she adds. “We aim to level the playing field and foster direct collaboration and communication between producers, roasters, and traders.”
Organising industry events in producing countries inevitably means bringing together a more diverse range of coffee professionals, as well as placing more of a spotlight on producers and the challenges they face.
But it can be all too easy to oversimplify these complex issues, as Andrea explains.
“At PRF, we aim to create spaces for constructive discussions that help us address these challenges collaboratively and responsibly,” she says. “Producers and their experiences and challenges need to be accurately represented and respected, and they need the opportunity to share their own stories.
“It’s also important to encourage open and honest dialogue about inequities in the coffee supply chain, including poverty, exploitation, and lack of access to resources,” she adds. “Producers aren’t passive participants – they are essential stakeholders in the coffee industry whose perspectives are invaluable.”
In line with this, organisers need to create event formats that ensure producers and other coffee professionals at origin obtain as much value as possible, as well as lowering barriers to entry.
“Thanks to our Diamond Sponsor Mayorga Coffee, PRF offers scholarships to smallholders who wouldn’t be able to attend without it,” Andrea says. “We also offer multilingual support and translations, and design our lecture and workshop programmes to address the specific needs of producers.”
Although the pressure to attend as many trade shows as possible is felt by most coffee professionals, businesses need to understand more about which types of events will work best for them. For example, if a roastery sells most of its coffee in a regional market, then attending international expos or festivals may not always work in their favour.
“I don’t think it’s always necessary to attend bigger events,” Steve tells me. “If most of a coffee shop’s customers are in the local community then their time is better spent attending, or even running, events in that area.
“Some trade shows are financially exclusive, and if these are the only places where you can go to advance your career or expand in a new market then you have a problem,” he adds. “But in that case, new events will appear that meet demand for more accessible options.”
If a coffee company is looking to build a stronger consumer base in different international markets, however, attending bigger expos and festivals will be a key part of this growth. Ultimately, this decision lies with what works best for the individual business.
To run successful events, organisers understandably need to charge visitors and exhibitors fees. But Steve emphasises that they also have a responsibility to improve accessibility based on the brands they want to attract.
“If it’s an event for CEOs and big businesses then the scale for affordability is totally different for a small coffee festival or barista competition,” he says. “In my opinion, there’s no good excuse for organisers to charge baristas hundreds of dollars to attend.
“At the Barista League, for example, we always make sure our ticket prices cost no more than the equivalent of two hours’ local minimum wage,” he adds. “For Nordic Coffee Fest, one of our core requirements of the venue is that it’s accessible by train or bus from any Scandinavian country.”
Depending on the size of the event, location will invariably place attendance restrictions. Steve, however, points out that organisers need to do more to provide support.
“A good event organiser has keen oversight over its operating costs and revenue to make conscious decisions about ticket prices and how accessible they want the event to be,” he says. “There’s also an opportunity for progressive organisers to sponsor attendees from marginalised communities or establish grant schemes.”
Attending trade shows is an important part of working in the industry, but rising costs mean that businesses and coffee professionals have to prioritise the events that benefit them the most.
At the same time, organisers need to make sure they create events that best suit the needs of attendees and exhibitors, and strive to improve accessibility across the board.
Enjoyed this? Then read our article on whether trade shows actually benefit smaller businesses.
Photo credits: Producer & Roaster Forum, Ádám Csordás
Perfect Daily Grind
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Bhavi is a brand-building specialist, a dairy technologist, and a storyteller with a keen interest in coffee.
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