World of Coffee Copenhagen Kicks Off This Week

Check out what’s happening at the acclaimed international event for coffee professionals.

BY J. MARIE CARLAN
BARISTA MAGAZINE ONLINE

Featured photo by Mads Eneqvist

On June 27-29, specialty-coffee trade show World of Coffee 2024 will hit the ground running at Bella Center in Copenhagen, Denmark. With workshops, lectures, the Coffee Design Awards, the Best New Product Competition, and new featured events, this year’s World of Coffee is poised to be the most dynamic yet.

Here are some of the many things you can look forward to at WOC Copenhagen.

2024 World Coffee Championships

Global coffee competitions are among the most anticipated events at World of Coffee, and this year will be no exception! The event includes the 2024 World Latte Art, World Coffee in Good Spirits, World Coffee Roasting, and World Cezve/Ibrik Championships, with over 80 competitors participating. The WCC Brew Bar and Espresso Bar will offer brews from top specialty roasters for a tactile experience of the competition.

• World Latte Art: This event showcases the artistic and technical skills of baristas, judged on uniformity of designs, contrast, and creativity.
• World Coffee in Good Spirits: This competition focuses on creative craft cocktails featuring specialty coffee as an ingredient.
• World Coffee Roasting: In this three-stage competition, champs are evaluated on green coffee quality, developing a roasting profile, and the cup quality of coffees roasted.
• Cezve/Ibrik: This coffee-brewing competition judges competitors on the use of the traditional long-handled vessel, and encourages adding personal cultural elements to the brewing process.

New This Year: Green Coffee Connect

Presented by Barista Attitude, the new event series Green Coffee Connect was created to help foster an inclusive environment for coffee professionals to share knowledge, make connections, and learn more about the green coffee industry.

Industry experts, academics, and entrepreneurs will host a series of informal talks in Green Coffee Connect, which is targeted to both those established in the green coffee trade and those just getting acquainted. Valuable insights will be offered about the inner workings of the green trade, with some talks also offering cuppings and tastings for hands-on experiences. Additionally, attendees will have the chance to explore the new Coffee Value Assessment (CVA) tool from the Specialty Coffee Association.

Participation in Green Coffee Connect is free and open to all at World of Coffee. See a schedule of the events here.

Also New for 2024: Retail Buyers Lounge

Another new feature of World of Coffee 2024 is the Retail Buyers Lounge, a venue for professional purchasers in coffee retail. Buyers will have the opportunity to network in a designated space, fostering skill-sharing and learning through a series of short talks and panels, with the talks taking place daily at mealtimes.

Boasting its own coffee bar and comfortable lounge, this invite-only space will be a great place to connect over coffee, learn about new trends, or just catch up on emails and relax away from the busy show floor.

You can see a list of speakers at the Retail Buyers Lounge here.

Two Roaster Villages

Attendees will have the chance to explore both up-and-coming and experienced roasters at the Roaster Villages. Last year’s WOC in Athens, Greece, was the first event to feature two villages. This year the trend will continue with two separate Roaster Villages, showcasing more roasters than ever before. Here, companies will be roasting, engaging with customers, and offering tastings of their brews, with both established and up-and-coming roasters exhibiting.

Portrait Country: Peru

Peru is one of the most climate-diverse countries in the world, with 39 unique ecosystems. This bio-diverse nation offers habitats for a huge scale of plants and animals, with 10 separate coffee-growing regions known for creating exceptional flavor profiles.

“We are very proud to be the Portrait Country at the World of Coffee 2024, which will allow us to showcase the quality of Peruvian specialty coffees to international buyers,“ said Claricia Tirado, executive president of PROMPERÚ, in a press release. “Coffee has become one of Peru’s traditional agricultural export products, with its main markets in Europe, North America, and Asia. In 2023 alone, coffee exports totaled USD $829 million. Therefore, Peru’s participation in this fair represents a great opportunity for our producers to achieve greater commercial contacts and to finalize future coffee shipments.“

You can learn more about Peruvian coffee here.

Schedule of Events, Exhibits, and More Info

Find a schedule of events for World of Coffee here, download the WOC App for helpful info, see the list of 2024 partners here, and check out a list of exhibitors on the show floor.

Check back soon for coverage of the event. See you there!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

J. Marie Carlan (she/they) is the online editor for Barista Magazine. She’s been a barista for 16 years and writing since she was old enough to hold a pencil. When she’s not behind the espresso bar or toiling over content, you can find her perusing record stores, writing poetry, and trying to keep the plants alive in her Denver apartment.

Subscribe and More!

Out now: It’s the June + July 2024 issue of Barista Magazine! Read it for free with our digital edition. And for more than three years’ worth of issues, visit our digital edition archives here.

You can order a hard copy of the magazine through our online store here, or start a subscription for one year or two.