RIMINI, Italy – World of Coffee delighted its organisers, exhibitors and visitors with a stunning brew of competitions, meetings and coffee tastings held over three days in Rimini that ended yesterday, attracting coffee aficionados from all over the world.
As much as 18,125 professionals (50% unique visitors), 57% of them visiting Italy from 100 countries worldwide, sealed the success of the event, rewarding the commitment and professionalism of the organisers and the investment of the companies present.
Four world championships, 54 international competitors only to the WBC, over 200 exhibitor companies, countless tasting sessions and xyz followers worldwide on the web during the show were the salient numbers testifying to the global success of the event.
Four talented professionals saw their hard work rewarded in the individual world championships:
- Winner of the prestigious World Barista Championship: Hidenori Izaki – Japan
- World Brewers Cup filter coffee champion: Stefanos Domatiotis – Greece
- Winning roaster in the World Coffee Roasting Championship: Yu Chuan Jacky Lai – Taiwan
- First place in the Cezve/Ibrik Championship to find the top Turkish coffee maestro: Stavros Lamprinidis Greece.
´It was the biggest and best World of Coffee events since the initiative was launched 15 years ago,´ said David Veal, Executive Director of SCAE, the Speciality Coffee Association that organises the trade fair this year in conjunction with Rimini Fiera.
´Our exhibitors really appreciated the number and expertise of the visitors, while our professionals loved the formula that combined the competitions with training sessions, business and entertainment.´
´People in the coffee world are very informal, empathetic and young,´ Veal went on to explain, ´and they truly found themselves at home in Italy, receiving an exceptionally warm welcome´.
´The English invented football but they aren´t world champions in the game today. Similarly, the Italians invented espresso but need to treasure this heritage today´, Veal concluded.
´World of Coffee leaves Italy strengthened to promote coffee culture and quality, stimulating Italians to understand that espresso can surpass what they are sometimes accustomed to drinking every day. Our relationship with Rimini Fiera, which got off to such a magnificent start with this event, has laid the foundations for increasingly extensive work together in the future.´
´We are delighted with the outcome of the event´ declared Lorenzo Cagnoni, Chairman of Rimini Fiera. ´Coffee is a product that comes from far away, but no one else has made it an emblem of their national style as we have in Italy.´
´There were two key factors in the success of this important event: a locality that has made hospitality a vocation and longstanding experience in the organisation of trade fairs.
These skills – which had already served the sector in the coffee section of SIGEP, the International Exhibition for the artisan production of gelato, pastry, confectionary and bakery, were decisive in bringing the event to Italy and ensuring its success.´
Next edition: June 2015, Goteborg (Sweden). 60% of space already sold!
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