The London Coffee Festival (the launch event of UK Coffee Week™) opens at the Old Truman Brewery on 3-6 April 2014 and is expected to attract more than 250 exhibitors and 20,000 attendees: apply for your complimentary ticket now (see below)!
The 2014 programme is full of activities and new features, with the festival now running two dedicated industry days (3 and 4 April) as well as an engaging ‘Lab’ educational workshop programme.
Serious about coffee?
Featuring demonstrations from world-class baristas, interactive workshops, street food, coffee-based cocktails, live music, DJs, art exhibitions and much more – The London Coffee Festival promises to be an unmissable event for anyone serious about coffee.
The unique festival model has been designed to ensure that industry days provide an ideal platform for visitors to source new products and innovations as well as take part in a vibrant mix of interactive coffee experiences.
In 2013 the hybrid event attracted more than 16,000 attendees (10,000 consumers and 6,000 trade) across four days and included features such as the True Artisan Café (La Marzocco’s pop-up coffee shop partnering with coffee shops and roasters), The Roastery by Union Hand-Roasted (live craft coffee roasting demonstrations) and the SCAE UK Barista Championship finals.
The Lab
‘The Lab’ will host numerous free, relevant seminars and workshops that will provide industry visitors with latest market insight, innovative ideas and ready-to-implement training and vocational skills.
Working closely with the SCAE and other industry thought-leaders and inspirational coffee creatives the 2014 Lab programme will be the most exciting to date.
The Lab Programme Highlights: Thursday 03 April
10:30 Key Messages from Project Café13 UK
After 15 years of considerable growth, the coffee shop sector continues to be one of the most successful in the UK economy. Sharing the key messages from the definitive report on the UK coffee shop market, Anya Marco will provide an overview of the size of the market, market shares, growth and important future trends to be aware of.
11:00 SCAE UK:Roasting and Blending Workshop
Roasting coffee transforms the chemical and physical properties of green coffee beans into roasted coffee products. The roasting process is what produces the characteristic flavour of coffee by causing the green coffee beans to expand and to change in colour, taste, smell, and density.
This 30 minute workshop will uncover the mystery of blending green beans.
12:30 Controlling the Perfect Grind
What is the perfect grind? Every coffee roaster will be able to give you the best recipe for your chosen blend whether for an espresso, filter coffee or any other. Development within ‘The Science of Espresso’ has enabled La Cimbali to create technology to control the grind in a measurable way, controlling the accuracy of gram throw, brew weight and brew time.
14:30 Why Mobile First Thinking is now Essential
The emergence of the connected consumer enjoying a user experience across desktop, tablet and mobile devices has demanded that marketers start to think of mobile as not just an add-on but as essential to driving revenues.
In this presentation digital specialists Obergine will explore the opportunities offered by mobile and tactics to take advantage of the rapidly growing mobile world.
15:00 Sustainable Sourcing Isn’t about Stickers
A discussion on Has Bean’s journey through various buying practices and the search for a method that secures both their customers’ needs and those of the modern producer – expect opinions and honesty!
15:30 SCAE UK – Milk Chemistry
We know milk tastes good, we know that when heated it is sweeter, but if heated too much it will burn and lose all that magic. This workshop uncovers and explains the scientific wonders of milk, a must for all would be baristas.
16:00 Coffee Refraction 101 by Matt Perger and Lachlan Ward
A guide to using a coffee refractometer and V60 with Matt Perger; 2012 World Brewers Cup Champion & double WBC finalist and Lachlan Ward the Australian Brewers’ Cup champion.
The Lab Programme Highlights: Friday 04 April
10:30 How to Stand Out on the High Street – What’s Your USP?
With every coffee shop proclaiming coffee credentials and quality, how do you ensure your business delivers what consumers are looking for? With insight from 16,000 coffee shop visitors, Anya Marco, director of insight at Allegra Strategies will share exactly what consumers are looking for and how to make a difference on the High Street.
11:30 Importing/exporting – Simple? Not.
The journey that the coffee bean takes from farm to roaster is not an easy one.
DRWakefield do this by building and maintaining relationships with their partners, making sure requirements are understood and met – farm to roaster, effortlessly.
This session will give visitors an insight into DRW’s world from A to Z, explaining logistical challenges they overcome every single day.
13:00 SCAE UK Brewing Workshop
In this 30 minute workshop you will be exposed to various brew methods, and you will learn how and why it is important to measure your brew for strength of extraction and TDS (total dissolved solids) as well as how to control your brewing to respond to changing conditions to achieve the ‘Gold Cup’. Brew methods covered will be: bulk brewing, V60, Aeropress, Syphon, Kalita, Clever Dripper, French Press, Chemex. Each method requires a different approach to grind profile and filtering method.
14:30 SCAE – Water: Testing and Filtration
The quality of your water has profound effects on flavour and can have catastrophic effects on your machinery.
This workshop will look at the different impurities found in our water and how to achieve an optimal water quality for your café.
Using some simple and economical testing kits this session will teach you how to check your own water quality and discuss the different types of filter options available.
16:00 SCAE Coffee Diploma System and the Benefits of Training
The Speciality Coffee Association of Europe is the world’s leading professional organisation promoting excellence in quality coffee.
Central to the SCAE’s purpose is to improve coffee standards through furthering knowledge and education, with this aim the Coffee Diploma System was created.
During this session Julie Barwick, Education Co-ordinator at SCAE will present an overview of the Coffee Diploma System.
What else to expect on the industry days?
The Science of Espresso – Deconstructed
The team from L’Accademia di Cimbali is back this year with their take on the ‘4th wave’ coffee movement, concentrating on four key areas: grinding, temperature, pressure, and milk – deconstructing the science behind a great espresso.
The True Artisan Café
La Marzocco will invite more than 40 of the best coffee shops and roasteries in the UK to take over the pop-up coffee shop for a three-hour slot, each serving signature drinks to visitors.
So far top baristas from London cafés such as Allpress, Ozone, Nude, Sacred and Bulldog at Ace Hotel have all signed up for this special feature alongside the likes of Colour Coffee from Newcastle, Number 35 from Dorchester, Tamper Coffee from Sheffield and Warwick University representing the regional stars.
Union World Coffee Tour
Union are returning to The London Coffee Festival this year bringing a new dimension to its ‘Roastery on Tour’ feature with the addition of the ‘Union World Coffee Tour’.
Visitors can enjoy an origin themed espresso and brew bar, showcasing Union Direct Trade Sourcing, with tastes from South America on Thursday and Sunday, Africa/Arabia, Pacific Asia on Friday and Central America on Saturday.
SCAE UK Coffee Competitions
The London Coffee Festival will host all SCAE UK Competitions for the third year running, including the UK Barista Championship 2014.
Catalysing Coffees
DRWakefield will be at The London Coffee Festival for the first time in 2014 with a brand new feature named ‘Catalysing Coffee’ – a concept to showcase DRW’s position in the industry in bringing grower and roaster together with a special focus on provenance, traceability, standards and quality.
Cravendale M.I.L.K Battle
As the official milk sponsor of The London Coffee Festival, Cravendale will be setting up their very own Milk Bar bringing with them a whole host of fun activities, including the M.I.L.K BATTLE.
Taking place on the industry days, baristas will go head-to-head to see who can create the most elaborate latte art and the winner will win the trip of a lifetime to a coffee country of origin.
Complimentary Registration
Members of the industry are invited to attend the event by using the industry registration code TRDLCF for complimentary entry when booking online at www.londoncoffeefestival.com/reg
The London Coffee Festival is the flagship event of UK Coffee Week (7-13 April), a nationwide celebration of great coffee and industry collaboration to raise funds for Project Waterfall. Consumer ticket sales this year will again support this charitable initiative, to deliver clean water projects in coffee-producing countries in Africa.
For more details on all the festival features, please visit www.londoncoffeefestival.com