MELBOURNE, Australia – Another year of MICE has come and gone. From 17 – 19 March, a total of 9213 visitors made their way to the Melbourne Showgrounds to taste some of the world’s best coffee and tea, see the latest technology in espresso, roasting and brewing equipment, and watch the excitement unfold in the Australian Barista Championship.
This year’s attendance figures exceed 2015’s event rate of 8922 visitors, indicating that MICE remains highly valuable for visitors and exhibitors to do business and network with clients. Equally, our strong public day attendance is a testament to the high level of engagement the Australian public has with our coffee culture, and its competition scene.
Thanks to Melbourne’s unpredictable autumn weather, exhibitors were treated to 36°C for the first show day. But mother nature couldn’t stop a hugely successful show like MICE. The show had to go on – with the aid of refreshing frappes and iced tea.
New additions to the 2016 show included Roaster’s Alley and Origin Alley, which were both particularly popular, as was the inaugural MICE Produce Innovation Awards in partnership with Sensory Lab.
With more than 25 entrants, the field of products was diverse, but there could only be two winners. Congratulations to Almo Milk who won the Industry’s Choice award, and to The Behmor Drum Coffee Roaster, who received the People’s Choice award.
In more competition news, Hugh Kelly of Ona Coffee was crowned the 2016 Australian Barista Champion, with Veneziano Coffee Roasters’ Jade Jennings placing runner up.
Hugh kept the barista title within the Ona family for the second year running after Company Director Sasa Sestic won the event in 2015.
The question now is, can Australia win the World Barista Champion title back-to-back? We’ll just have to wait and see when Hugh competes on the world stage in Dublin, Ireland in June.
MICE2016 wouldn’t have been the success it was without the support of its Platinum Sponsors, including Espresso Mechanics, Pura, Huhtamaki, Mocopan and BeanScene, and Supporting Sponsors Vitasoy, Sensory Lab and Promobin.
MICE would also like to thank its event partners ASCA, RASV, Cake Expo, Melbourne Food & Wine Festival, StreetSmart, and Media Partners GRAM, Roast, Beanhunter, Blackcoffeeonly, Coffee Snobs, Perfect Daily Grind, Long & Short of It, Global Coffee Report, and Fresh Cup for their continued support.
This year, the quality of the 120 exhibition displays was to a superior standard, rivalling any international expo. A big thank you to each of our exhibitors for their involvement, dedication and support of MICE2016.
Without you all, MICE would not hold its reputation as the leading coffee dedicated event in the Southern Hemisphere. Last but certainly not least, MICE would like to extend thanks to each of the 9213 people who attended across the three days – we hope you enjoyed the experience as much as we enjoyed bringing it to you.
How could we possibly top MICE in 2017 we hear you say? Well, MICE organisers have some exciting news to share…wait for it…In 2017 MICE will be partnering with the Australian International Tea Expo!
Tea has always been a strong component for MICE, and what better way to continue to grow the event than to extend it with a unique collaboration between tea and coffee.
We look forward to MICE2017 and seeing you there!
For more information CLICK HERE
