New trade show will be a meeting place for coffee, tea and cocoa

COTECA Hamburg, International Trade Show for the Coffee, Tea & Cocoa Business
at Hamburg Fair site from 4 to 6 June 2010

COTECA Hamburg, the International Trade Show for the Coffee, Tea & Cocoa Business, celebrates its premiere at the Hamburg Fair site on Friday. It is the first trade show in Europe that covers the whole of the process chain of all three sectors, from the raw commodity to the finished product. The range of exhibitors extends from producers and traders to roasters, equipment manufacturers and service providers, and includes equipment suppliers for coffee shops. More than 100 exhibitors from 17 countries will showcase their products and services from 4 to 6 June. The trade show will be accompanied by a high-calibre conference with international speakers.

“Hamburg is Europe’s main handling centre for coffee, tea and cocoa. COTECA Hamburg is the leading international contact platform, underscoring once again the importance of this location for the industry,” says Bernd Aufderheide, President and CEO of Hamburg Messe und Congress (HMC). That is also highlighted by a Senate reception, to which the City of Hamburg invites exhibitors and conference delegates. The international trade show addresses trade visitors from all parts of Europe from the industry, trade and coffee shops. COTECA Hamburg has the support of the German Coffee Association, which is holding its Annual General Meeting on 4 June, in the framework of the new meeting point for the industry.

The European Coffee Federation (ECF) will also be holding its Annual General Meeting at COTECA Hamburg (on 3 and 4 June), as will the European Decaffeinators Association (EDA), which has invited its members to its AGM at the Hamburg Fair site on 4 June.

The German Chapter of the SCAE (Speciality Coffee Association of Europe) is holding its Coffee Olympiad 2010 at the trade show. More than 60 baristi from the whole of Germany will compete from Friday to Sunday in a number of disciplines – with the Latte Art Contest, the Coffee & Spirit Competition, the Cup Tasting, and the Barista Championship. The winners will qualify for the World Championships in London.

The framework programme of COTECA Hamburg also includes numerous seminars and workshops of the SCAE. They cover subjects like espresso machine equipment, roasting, grinding, sensors and cupping, and professional techniques of espresso preparation and latte art.

The three-day trade show will be accompanied on 4 and 5 June by a conference under the heading of “Markets in transition – challenges and opportunities for the coffee, tea and cocoa markets of tomorrow”, when leading experts from all parts of the world at COTECA Hamburg will discuss the future of the three sectors. There will be 34 speakers from 9 countries on the two days of the conference, in presentations and panel discussions, showing the scope for action and discussing forward looking strategies. A central conference subject for all three sectors will be global climate change and its consequences. The detailed programme with all its subjects and speakers is shown at the website www.coteca-hamburg.de

The fine art of espresso and latte macchiato will be demonstrated in a spectacular way with a new modern art creation by students of the University of Fine Arts (Hochschule für bildende Künste Hamburg, HFBK). They will install in Hall A4 a 6 x 6 metre version of Roy Lichtenstein’s celebrated work “The Kiss” – made up of thousands of cups of coffee. The different shades of colour from black to beige will be created by adding appropriate amounts of milk.

The date for the next COTECA Hamburg has already been set – the next International Trade Show for the Coffee, Tea & Cocoa Business, will be held at the Hamburg Fair site from 1 to 3 June 2012. All information on the trade show, the current conference programme and the admission prices is provided at www.coteca-hamburg.com

Last update: 02.06.10

Gudrun Blickle