SEUL – The second annual World Coffee Leaders Forum 2013 will take place at Coex Convention Center in Seoul, South Korea on November 20-22, 2013, following a successful debut last year.
Established with the mission to find sustainable development methods, WCLF invites industry leaders and innovators to share and discuss the important issues, trends, and vision of Asia and the world coffee industry.
Online registration is now open and can be completed online at the official World Coffee Leaders Forum website: http://www.wclforum.org/registration/01.php.
This year’s events will take place over a three day span, allowing for more in-depth analysis and focus on a greater variety of topics. The theme this year is “Global Coffee Industry Issues and Potential of the Asian Market.” Seven plenary sessions are planned, consisting of topics including Asian Coffee Market Insight, Coffee Leaf Rust, Changes in Market, Specialty Coffee, Coffee Price & Marketing Strategy, Relationship, and Certification & Fair Trade.
For instance, Mr. David Veal, Executive Director of SCAE, is prepared to discuss specialty coffee and trends of the European market. Mr. Geoff Watts, Vice President of Intelligentsia Coffee & Tea, will share his extensive knowledge on developing marketing strategies.
Mr. Hidetaka Hayashi, President of Hayashi Coffee Institute, plans to provide insights into the Japanese consumer market, while Mr. Christopher L. Gilbert, Econometrics Professor at Oxford University, will share his research of coffee price discovery, volatility management and forecast.
These are just a few of the many prominent industry leaders who will again join the Forum and share their experience and insights. Each day’s plenary sessions will again be concluded with a panel discussion made up of the day’s speakers.
This three-day Forum will also include an array of supplemental events. These include B2B Business Meeting, World Coffee Youth Leadership Forum, World Coffee Adventure Session, Technical Session, and Coffee Business Tour.
Coffee Business Tour allows participants to experience firsthand the Korean Coffee Industry by visiting a roasting plant, roastery cafe, and franchise coffee shop.
These activities will provide ample opportunities for industry partners to interact and exchange ideas, cultivate valuable business networks and have effective collaboration on common platforms. World Coffee Leader Forum is a concurrent event with the 12th Seoul Int’l Café Show 2013, Asia’s premier coffee exhibition.
This year’s exhibition (open Nov. 21~24) will be the largest scale in history with 500 exhibitors displayed in 30,000sqm, and an estimated 100,000 visitors from around the world.
Asia plays an important and expanding role within the world coffee market, both as a consumer and a producer. Japan and Korea are large consumer markets, and China is noted for its great potential. In addition, countries such as Vietnam, Indonesia, and the Philippines continue to expand their coffee production and influence.
The World Coffee Leaders Forum was created for this reason, to act as a medium of communication for the coffee industry.
This year’s Forum will give particular attention to Asia’s role. Looking to the future, World Coffee Leaders Forum provides a place for leaders of the world coffee industry to meet, share and discuss the newest ideas, trends, and methods of the industry along with the growing roles and responsibilities of Asia.
