Producer & Roaster Forum 2020 announces speakers from 20+ countries

MILAN – Producer & Roaster Forum (PRF) announces that the fourth edition will be held in the Marina Copán Convention Center, Copán, Honduras on the 26th and 27th March 2020. As one of the most important coffee forums in a producer country, with over 100 international roasters and 1000 Central American producers and coffee professionals expected to attend, the event facilitates relationships across the supply chain and prioritises impact for attendees.

The speakers for the two-day event reflect a commitment to meeting producers’ needs through providing practical information on how producers can maximise their income and tackle their costs of production, raising awareness of topics rarely discussed at origin, and focusing on global green bean sales in existing and emerging markets. Experts who rarely travel to origin will be brought to Honduras from 5 continents, as part of an event predicted to generate around US $10 million for the local economy.

Origin Trip & Producer & Roaster Forum 2020: The Itinerary

Roasters, producers, traders, baristas, and more will head to Copán for the two-day Producer & Roaster Forum. There will be educational lectures and panels; farming, roasting, and barista workshops; Honduran and international cupping sessions; an expo area; and opportunities for networking and producer and roaster matchmaking.

Prior to the event, Producer Scholarship recipients will receive training and guidance to ensure that they can take advantage of the networking and business opportunities at the event and help them optimise their business in the medium to long term. There will also be events targeted to female producers.

From the 23rd to 25th of March, a group of roasters will be participating in the optional, all-inclusive three-day Origin Experience add-on. They will be collected from the airport and taken to their host farm, where they will experience farm visits, producer meetings, wet and dry mill visits, educational activities related to production and processing, cuppings with farmers, and roundtables.

The Lectures, Presentations, & Workshops at Producer & Roaster Forum

The lectures and speakers were chosen to represent the global coffee community and meet coffee producers’ needs. PRF spoke directly with the Honduran Coffee Institute (IHCAFE), producers, and exporters to gauge which topics would be most useful. An application and nominations process was also opened up to avoid being exclusionary.

Markets for green bean sales is a priority at the event, with lectures and panels not just on established buyers such as the US but also emerging ones including Russia, China, and the Middle East. As Henry Wilson, CEO and Founder of Perfect Daily Grind and Producer & Roaster Forum, explains, “What separates the Producer & Roaster Forum from other industry events is the focus on transactions and generating market access for producers.”

With topics such as FOB vs Farmgate Price, Analysing The Supply Chain: Transactional Values, Commercial vs Specialty: Understanding Value, Reviewing The Costs of Production: A Cost-Benefit Analysis, and How Forward Crop Purchases Reshaped The Brazilian Market & Impacted Global Prices, there will be a strong focus on understanding the coffee trade and how the industry will be able to take steps towards adding value and improving resilience. This is a complex topic that extends beyond prices through to market access and structural inequality, and deserves a thorough examination.

The aim of the presentations is to give coffee professionals in Central America actionable and useful information that they can apply while networking during the event, as well as in future business negotiations.

Friday morning will also begin with a series of microlectures in an innovative approach modelled by TedEX and online universities. Designed to suit shorter attention spans and communicate the same amount of information in a more rapid format, microlectures are at the forefront of education.

The forum will also feature several workshops for producers and roasters held by Rainforest Alliance, Lutheran World Relief, Jen Apodaca of Mother Tongue Coffee, Red Band Barista Academy, and 2019 World Cup Tasters Champion Daniel Horbat.