Successful premiere – COTECA Hamburg gets off to a great start
New international meeting point for the coffee, tea and cocoa markets

7 June 2010

COTECA Hamburg has celebrated a successful premiere – with nearly 3,000 trade visitors from a
total of 25 countries. The international trade show from 4 to 6 June and the accompanying
conference gave them information and insights into the innovations and developments in the
coffee, tea and cocoa markets. This brilliant beginning underscored COTECA Hamburg’s
positioning as a high-calibre platform for the whole value chain of the three industries, from raw
commodities to finished products. It featured presentations of products and services from more
than 100 companies from 17 countries at the Hamburg Fair site.
“We are very pleased with the premiere of COTECA Hamburg,” said Bernd Aufderheide, President
and CEO of Hamburg Messe und Congress. “It was right on target, creating a new industry
meeting point at top level for the coffee, tea and cocoa markets.” That was confirmed by a visitor
survey, which showed that one in three trade visitors was from abroad. About 70% were from the
top decision making level. The exhibiting companies were very impressed by the high quality of
trade visitors.

A positive summary was made by Holger Preibisch, Secretary-General of the German Coffee
Association, which supported the event – “COTECA Hamburg is an attractive blend of international
trade show and international conference, bringing together experts from all stages of the value
chain to discuss current trends and initiate business contacts. It is an outstanding platform for
coffee professionals from Germany and abroad here in Hamburg, the coffee capital.”
This first event also met with very positive response from the majority of exhibitors at COTECA
Hamburg. Hanns-Christian Neumann, Head of Communication at Neumann Kaffee Gruppe, the
world’s leading green coffee service provider, put it like this: “COTECA produced an amazing
response. Our expectations were more than met, and we were able to build new business
relations.”

Arthur E. Darboven, Managing Partner of the Bernhard Bennecke Coffee / Rehm & Co., said “We
were able to reach all our target groups of small and medium-sized roasters from Europe and the
Middle East, right through to the exporters and producers from Central America and Africa.”
Thorsten Hammersen, Managing Director of Efico, a green coffee and cocoa trading company,
said “there were customers from all parts of Europe, especially on the Friday and Saturday. It was
important for us to be present at COTECA Hamburg, because that enabled us to present our new
concept and warehouse.”

Indonesia, one of the world’s largest coffee and tea producers, set up a national pavilion. “We are
highly satisfied,” said Vice-Consul Teuku Zulkaryadi, “and we were able to make a large number of
new contacts.” And Moga Simatupang, Head of the Indonesian Trade Promotion Center, added
“We had trade visitors coming to us from a number of European countries, and even from Lebanon
and the US.” Bharath Mandanna, Vice President of the Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation,
India, said “COTECA Hamburg has its finger on the pulse of the industry. It is a good platform for
producers and has enormous potential.”

“The quality of trade visitors was very high,” said Thomas M. Grömer, CEO of Aiya Europe, the
European representative of Japan’s leading organic tea producer, “and we had a lot of in-depth,
successful customer talks. We think it is a good thing to get coffee, tea and cocoa together here
under one roof.” Dietmar Scheffler, CEO of the Hälssen & Lyon tea company, said “organisation
was excellent, both of the trade show and the conference. Hamburg is the ideal location for this
event, as the capital of tea and coffee.”

Most of the machine manufacturers also gave very positive assessments. Park Leo, Managing
Director of Wooshin FA, a South Korean manufacturer of tea packaging machines, said “COTECA
Hamburg was very successful for us. We took plenty of orders for our pyramid tea bag machine,
and even sold one directly at the trade show.” Rolf Rast, Managing Director of the espresso
machine manufacturer KMS Dalla Corte, said “We were able to welcome plenty of well informed
trade visitors, and to close deals. And the German Coffee Olympiad was a positive event, as it
really kept things lively.” It comprised a total of four competitions, and was held in Hamburg for the
first time, at COTECA. It was organised by the German Chapter of the Speciality Coffee
Association of Europe (SCAE). Christian Kohlhoff, the national coordinator, said “the Coffee
Olympiad at COTECA Hamburg really struck gold, setting new standards for future
championships.”

The trade show was accompanied by an international conference, with more than 30 high-ranking
speakers from four continents addressing the future of the markets for coffee, tea and cocoa. The
participants were very happy with the choice of subjects, and pleased at how up-to-date the
presentations were. “The standard was very high,” said David Foxwell, Editor of Coffee & Cocoa
International and Chair of the sessions on coffee and cocoa. “Presentations gave in-depth
coverage to subjects which are vital in these markets, such as sustainability and the impact of
climate change.” Lars Völsch, Tea Taster of J.T. Ronnefeldt and chair of the tea sessions, said “It
was a successful industry meeting, with interesting discussions. Participants asked lots of targeted
questions, especially on new trends and on the certification of tea.”

The next COTECA Hamburg, International Trade Show for the Coffee, Tea & Cocoa Business, will
be held at the Hamburg Fair site in two years’ time, in June 2012. All information on the trade
show, the conference, the Coffee Olympiad and the supporting programme 2010 is available at

Gudrun Blickle