After more than a year of uncertainty for hospitality, Caffè Culture 2021 is here to showcase the very best the industry has to offer.

Caffè Culture 2021 returns with an unmissable event for the cafe and coffee bar market. Featuring over 100 brands, showcasing products ranging from speciality tea and coffee, artisan food, bakery and chocolate right through to equipment, technology and packaging.  

Free to attend and taking place at the Business Design Centre, London, this year’s show features include a 4-stream talks programme with 70+ expert speakers, a new speciality coffee Batch Brew Bar, a Speciality Tea Hub, two days of SCA barista competitions, a Roasters’ village plus much more. Head to caffecultureshow.com to register for your free trade pass.

What’s on…

RE:CONNECT WITH VICTORIA ARDUINO
Re:connect is Victoria Arduino’s new concept for 2021 and will play host to some of the UK’s finest speciality roasters. The theme for VA’s 2021 show feature is Re:connect. In a world where we crave contact with others for support, well-being and entertainment, the challenging times we face are taking their toll. Victoria Arduino will welcome visitors to be part of this change and show support for the coffee community. They will showcase educational opportunities available for coffee professionals, such as The Coffee Knowledge Hub, an education networking platform that launched earlier this year, and The Youth Academy, a funded education programme for young people wanting to build a career in coffee. The Youth Academy is now in its second year, and has offered the students an opportunity to progress in their career with each other as support.  Roasters represented this year are: Hasbean; Ozone; Curve Coffee Roasters; Cupper’s Choice; TAF Coffee; Caravan Coffee Roasters; Ue Coffee Roasters; London Grade Coffee; 200 Degrees Coffee Roasters; Crosby Coffee, Common Coffee and Pact.

EUROPEAN SPECIALITY TEA ASSOCIATION
Join a host of experts on the ESTA Speciality Tea Hub where you will be able to experience and learn about the six categories of tea and get to sample them with exhibitors including Yumchaa Tea, Jade Tea and Sunbird Rooibos Tea, and also experience the delights of matcha whisking, tea cocktails, tea and food pairing, cold brew and nitro tea. You can also learn more about their new education initiative, the Tea Certification Programme, which will offer universally recognised and respected certification in a wide range of subjects delivered by its partners across Europe. A new concept ESTA is introducing is that of the Tea Barista which aims to explore why we should be just as skilled, knowledgeable and passionate about tea just as we are about coffee.

BATCH BREW BAR
In partnership with Swedish Brewer 3TEMP, the new speciality coffee Brew Bar will host some of the UK’s most talented coffee roasters. The feature will offer visitors the ultimate guide to batch brew coffee with a series of live brewing sessions, masterclasses, and takeovers. Each roaster will be profiling and brewing their coffees and serving it to visitors, who will get to vote for their favourite brews, with the two finalists going head-to-head. If you are interested in the science of coffee, 3TEMP will also be demonstrating the functionality and versatility of the Brewers in some ad-hoc educational events. 

Talks Programme

PEOPLE AND CULTURE
New this year, the People and Culture stage will highlight crucial conversations to promote a better future for the coffee industry. Led by The Kore Directive, the panel discussions will cover many different topics. In Grounded Wellness, discussions centre on how to mitigate the effects on coffee professionals’ mental wellness in the wake of the likes of Covid and Brexit. This panel will feature Ariana Huecherig of Caravan Coffee and Glenn James of Coffix, moderated by Jordan Harvey of Kore. The keynote talk explores how to create a career in coffee for yourself and/or others while being well-versed in employee rights and responsibilities, and features Sarah Kern of Kore. The talk will focus on hiring, onboarding and providing support to an employee. This is then followed by a discussion on how coffee can be a vehicle for social change, moderated by Kore Chairwoman Camilla Morgan and featuring Aashifa Hussain of Well Grounded; Mat North of Raw Material Europe; Hannah Davies of Cup North and Essy Sparrow of Your Server Today podcast. In the wake of some of the biggest racial equity movements across the world in 2020, the panel discussion Seats At The Table aims to demystify what inclusivity is and includes panellist Keri Peters of 200 Degrees Coffee. Finally, Brewing Good Business is about equipping women in UK coffee with the skills, confidence and opportunities to progress their coffee careers, and features Sinem Kartal of Chapel Market Roastery; Tereza Vertatova of Curve Coffee Roasters; Izzy Austen of Baristas on Tap and Michaela Kyriacou of Bean + Brew London.

CAFFEINSIGHTS
During the pandemic, industry consultant John Richardson and the Caffè Culture team created CaffèInsights to provide ongoing practical advice to owners and operators navigating the pandemic. They are continuing this theme at the event, looking forward while making sure that the lessons from the past year are passed on. Taking place on day two, there will be six panel discussions led by John with some respected operators and experts, including:  

1. The lessons learned from Covid. Input from owners who managed to rework their operations and emerge with much stronger, more profitable and resilient businesses.

2. Branding. Analysis of how strong branding can make an impact, with examples from those who seized the opportunity to rebrand last year.

3.Current trends and the future. Detailed market research on what is happening now and a look at the future.

4.Social media. Covid taught us that strong social media use, over several platforms, was essential. We analyse what works, what doesn’t and what to focus on in the future.

5.Retail. Retail sales alongside traditional income streams have been profitable for many operators and we discuss the best ways to take advantage of this.

6.Recruitment and retention. Practical solutions from a panel  on the chronic shortage of staff  at almost all levels of the industry.

ROASTERS’ FORUM
As the coffee industry reconnects, there are many questions: What changes have we undergone? How do recent events impact coffee? And what does the future hold for the industry? This year’s Roasters’ Forum, sponsored by DRWakefield, will explore the past, present and future of coffee. Over a series of six engaging talks, presentations and panel discussions, the Roasters’ Forum will examine how trends, innovation, technology and discovery can stimulate change and development in coffee production, sourcing and roasting. The series will begin with a discussion on the concepts of coffee quality, looking at how trends can mould the idea of value, both in production and consumption, and how these change over time and geography. The talks will explore the cyclical nature of trends, how and where they are created, who they affect most, and how innovation and technology can influence how coffee is grown, sourced and roasted. The conversation will continue with a discussion of the genetics of coffee. Visitors can learn about various coffee species, from Robusta to Liberica, Aramosa and Stenophylla, looking at their history and the roles they may have to play in coffee’s future. The series will conclude with a conversation on sustainability, exploring the multidimensional concepts of the term, discussing carbon neutrality, certification, price, environment, business and relationships, and their connection to the coffee industry moving forward. The Roasters’ Forum will be interspersed with interactive coffee tastings to showcase how coffee profiles have changed over the years and illustrate the diversity of coffee’s flavour across a variety of species, cup profiles and processing methods.

COFFEE STUDIES 2021
Coffee Studies continues its successful format of borrowing from the TED style presentation coupled with a curated panel to discuss in real terms contrasting and complimentary perspectives of the presented topic. This year, the discussions reflect on the last 18 months of lockdown and its impact on how the industry has responded to global supply chain challenges and evolving perspectives on sustainability. As always coffee studies will focus on real business stories, and challenging the prevailing narratives surrounding speciality coffee and its position within the framework of global trade. Each talk welcomes businesses of all sizes to participate through the engaging panel and audience Q&A sessions that follow the keynote speaker presentation moderated to constructively challenge the narratives of the day. Coffee Studies 2021 will also play host to the graduation and induction of the 2020 and 2021 Youth Academy students (a collaborative effort between Caffeina Consulting, VA Machinery and industry partners), giving students a chance to present and participate in discussions  at a major industry event.

BOOK A HALF DAY WORKSHOP WITH JOHN RICHARDSON
Join John Richardson, from the Café Experts, in his half-day workshop – How to build a profit producing system – creating a business that doesn’t require you to ‘be there’. In his workshop, John will demonstrate the exact process he uses with clients to help rebuild their businesses in a more profitable way - but crucially in a way that is based on a system that will work, whether you are there or not.  John will cover, with cases studies, how to build this profit producing system by re-working the four key levers you "pull" to create change in your business:

Your menu - the biggest area to create increased profit and more control.  There are nearly 50 areas within this that John will break down for you - all of which affect your sales and ability to run an "easy" business. 

Your signage and merchandising - how to seamlessly increase sales without "upselling". 

Your people - how to get them "on board" with any changes you're making and not "kicking back" but also how to create a better working environment for them so they stay longer.  Low staff turnover is critical to a profit producing system.

Your promotions - you need a systematic social media process to build engagement and therefore allow you to make sales AND attract new customers.  John has three full time members on his team working and analysing the core social media channels and the process has been refined down into just four types of post that need to be regularly rotated.

There will be workbooks with templates, checklists and accompanying training videos available after the event.  The workshop takes place on Thursday 2nd September, AM and costs £55 (+VAT) per person

Remember, Caffe Culture Show is free to attend. Register for your pass today at www.caffecultureshow.com