Bengaluru: The 7th edition of India International Coffee Festival 2018 kickstarted with hordes of visitors thronging the venue with gusto at The Lalit Ashok, Bengaluru. The event was officially inaugurated on Wednesday by Minister for Agriculture Krishna Byre Gowda and Minister for Social Welfare and Backward Classes Welfare H. Anjaneya.
The four-day long festival themed, ‘Express yourself with Coffee’ jointly organized by the India Coffee Trust and the Coffee Board of India kick started with skill-building workshops on Modern Profile Roasting in Shop Roasters led by Marcel Knitter, Trainer, Probat Training Center, Germany; Profile Roasting of Single Estate Coffees led by Dr. Stefan Schenker, Head of Business Unit-Coffee, Buhler AG, Switzerland and Assessment of Roasting loss and Cupping quality led by Mr. Fernando Fernandes, M/s, Lilla Roasters, Brazil.
The inaugural day witnessed the presence of thousands of trade visitors including roasters, retailer’s distributors and cafe owners along with national and international coffee industry, policy makers, industry captains, exporters, manufacturers and host of other luminaries associated with the coffee industry.
Special Workshops were conducted on Coffee Brewing, extracting a perfect cup of espresso by Michalis Dimitrakopoulos; Different types of Bunn Equipment using Indian and International Coffees by Simon Green, European Technical Manager, M/s. Bunn UK; and The Art of Making a perfect cup of Cappuccino with Latte Art by Mr. Arnold Thitiprasert, World Renowned Latte Art Champion 2017.
Speaking on the occasion, Krishna Byre Gowda said, “Coffee is one of the most appreciated beverages in the world. Since Karnataka is the largest coffee growing state producing 71% of coffee in the Indian coffee industry, it is a great opportunity for the coffee fraternity to get associated with India International Coffee Festival to promote their brand, showcase new technologies and to grow distribution network with the biggest firms in coffee.”
Sudhir Sitapati, Executive Director – Refreshments, Hindustan Unilever Limited, said, “I am really excited to be a part of the India International Coffee Festival 2018. The coffee industry in Karnataka employs large number of workers across the state. Having the policy makers, industry bodies and corporates will help increase domestic consumption of coffee in India”.
“The main objective of coffee festival this year is to capture the changes that are taking place in the Coffee Sector and to discuss on issues such as Broader Focus on the Coffee Industry, Issues Faced by the Growers, Grower to the consumer, Start-ups for Coffee eco-system and much more,” said Anil Kumar Bhandari, President, India Coffee Trust.
The event is projecting Coffee Tourism not just to encourage and benefit the coffee industry and the small farmers associated with it, but also bring much needed impetus to the tourism in the state.
Participants at IICF 2018 include leading brands like Hindustan Uni Lever, Tata Coffee, Nestle, Consolidated Coffee Limited, Astoria, Buhler, Kaapi Machines, Coffee Board of India, KSTDC-Govt of Karnataka, MK Associates, Swiss Pack, Bunn-O-Matic, Kuraray, Diedrich, CMA, Probat, Kaapi Machines, Eltex, Bayers, Birla Corporation Ltd, Hatti Kaapi, SLN Coffee, Araku Aroma, Sanvi Trade, True South, Red Bee Machines etc.
