Liz Clayton reports on what she found - and what she didn't find - at the 2007 Canadian Coffee & Tea Show in Toronto along with thoughts on what could happen in 2008.
MarkPrince Moderator Joined: 19 Dec 2001 Posts: 5,462 Location: Vancouver, BC Expertise: Professional
Espresso: KvdW Speedster Grinder: Compak K10 WBC Vac Pot: A bit too many Drip: Clive Coffee Drip Stand Roaster: Hario Glass Retro Roaster
Posted Fri Oct 5, 2007, 9:14pm Subject: Re: 2007 Canadian Coffee & Tea Show Report, Road Reports
I love Liz's writing style, and we're going to see some more articles from her very soon.
I'll echo what Liz said very politely - I have been losing interest in a range of trade shows as of late because of the influx of things that, IMO, don't matter towards the advancement of quality coffee. Powders. Paper cups. Cup warmers. Cup sleeves. Candies. Syrups (though I'll say this about the syrups - no one has supported barista comps and jams like the syrup companies have, and for that alone, I rarely say anything bad about them - so if you want syrups, please consider Davinci, Oscar's, and Monin! :) :) :))
I'd love to see an all-quality driven coffee trade show / event / happening on a regular basis in Canada. The syrup people are happily invited, but what the SCAA calls "allied companies" would be limited to maybe 20% of the show floor space or less. It doesn't have to be huge, big or even medium size either. Just a extreme-quality driven show that has almost everything geared towards delivering a better coffee or espresso product.
Posted Sat Oct 6, 2007, 1:43pm Subject: Re: 2007 Canadian Coffee & Tea Show Report, Road Reports
MarkPrince Said:
... I'd love to see an all-quality driven coffee trade show / event / happening on a regular basis in Canada. The syrup people are happily invited, but what the SCAA calls "allied companies" would be limited to maybe 20% of the show floor space or less. It doesn't have to be huge, big or even medium size either. Just a extreme-quality driven show that has almost everything geared towards delivering a better coffee or espresso product.
When I'll be up and running and with help from someone like you I'm totally in for something like that. Next year is the 400th anniversary of Quebec city... ;-) I'm moving back pretty soon and hope to be brewing before next spring. :^D
Enjoy your coffees with Respect :^) =============== BGA0531 SCAA, "Golden Cup Certification" Technician
onocoffee Senior Member Joined: 5 Sep 2002 Posts: 733 Location: Towson, Maryland Expertise: Just starting
Espresso: La Marzocco Linea 2AV, 3AV &... Grinder: 4 Mazzer Major Autos, Compak... Vac Pot: That crazy Bodum eSantos Drip: Bunn CWT Twin, Bunn Water... Roaster: Petroncini The Crumb
Posted Tue Oct 9, 2007, 3:21pm Subject: Re: 2007 Canadian Coffee & Tea Show Report, Road Reports
MarkPrince Said:
I have been losing interest in a range of trade shows as of late because of the influx of things that, IMO, don't matter towards the advancement of quality coffee. Powders. Paper cups. Cup warmers. Cup sleeves. Candies. Syrups. I'd love to see an all-quality driven coffee trade show / event / happening on a regular basis in Canada. The syrup people are happily invited, but what the SCAA calls "allied companies" would be limited to maybe 20% of the show floor space or less. It doesn't have to be huge, big or even medium size either. Just a extreme-quality driven show that has almost everything geared towards delivering a better coffee or espresso product.
It seems like a nice thought, but considering the size of the current event, forcing out those "allied" companies would cripple or completely wipe out the show. Perhaps a show like CoffeeFest, SCAA or Mexico's ExpoCafe could withstand such a reduction in vendors, but I don't see how the Canadian show could.
It's time to accept the fact that being in the minority means that vendors catering to our needs will also be in the minority at trade shows.
Posted Wed Oct 10, 2007, 6:48am Subject: Re: 2007 Canadian Coffee & Tea Show Report, Road Reports
onocoffee Said:
It seems like a nice thought, but considering the size of the current event, forcing out those "allied" companies would cripple or completely wipe out the show. Perhaps a show like CoffeeFest, SCAA or Mexico's ExpoCafe could withstand such a reduction in vendors, but I don't see how the Canadian show could.
It's time to accept the fact that being in the minority means that vendors catering to our needs will also be in the minority at trade shows.
Couldn't have stated that much better than you did, sir. And I speak as someone with 20+ years of marketing and managing trade shows and conferences across 20+ industries.
If you're going to try an limit participation, you necessarily also limit the revenue opportunity. There are pretty much two ways someone pulls something like this together: 1) an all-volunteer event similar to a PodCamp or "mostly" volunteer like Gnomedex. Therefore, no need to show a profit. But you've got to find folks willing to do this work. 2) attendees foot the bill instead of or in addition to exhibitors/sponsors. In other words, fees upwards of $500 per head attending. However, for-profit organizers hate working like this because they usually need cash flow up front to take care of logistics requirements.
Remember also the "10% rule" which is that any Canadian "national" trade show will be only about 10% as large as a similar show in the US simply due to the market size.
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