Delegates were given the opportunity to attend three days packed with educational sessions and enter the world’s largest coffee roasting competition.
Although in its sixth year, it was the first time the event had been held away from Café Culture’s hometown of Port Macquarie. Over five days at the Sunshine Coast Function Centre, delegates were given the opportunity to attend three days packed with educational sessions and enter the world’s largest coffee roasting competition.
Sessions covered industry specific topics, as well as business development. Ten competition coffee categories included Australian Grown, Single Origin, and Organic (Espresso), allowing roasters to showcase over three days the beans that have made them local heroes in their home countries.
Why Sunshine Coast?
With more than 500 local producers, including coffee plantations such as Dakibomon and roasters like Montville Coffee, the Sunshine Coast proved to be the perfect destination for this internationally renowned event. Caloundra’s relaxed beachside location enticed more than 1,000 representatives of small, medium and large coffee companies to settle into resort-style and apartment accommodation adjacent to the Sunshine Coast Function Centre. Many brought family with them, citing ease of access, family-friendly activities and clean beaches. Caloundra is less than an hour’s drive north of Brisbane and only 25 minutes from the Sunshine Coast Airport.
The region’s innovative food producers also provided inspiration and erudition with site visits, including to multi-award winning Pioneer Coffee in Yandina.
Evenings were filled with exciting social activities, including an adrenalin-packed afternoon that kicked off with friendly competition on Australia’s largest go kart racetrack.
“Moving the event was an excellent decision with both coffee entries and attendance again increasing over previous years” … Café Culture in-house organiser.
Challenges
The competition element of the event attracted the world’s best coffee roasters and baristas. This meant that the organisers, required a very large venue that could accommodate the concurrent judging of approximately 1,000 coffee roasting entries across ten categories – that’s 10,000 steaming hot cups of coffee produced in quick succession for judges to taste. At the same time and in the same venue, there were 250 delegates attending seminars.
Our solution
Business Events Sunshine Coast (BESC) responded by developing a two-day guided site inspection schedule for the clients before the business was confirmed. They recommended and conducted site visits of a number of large venues that could concurrently accommodate 1,200+ delegates and entrants, plus dozens of event organisers and judges.
To really satisfy the client (and ensure that they would deliver a very special event) BESC arranged for former World Champion Barista, Tim Adams from Pioneer Coffee on the Sunshine Coast, to become an event ambassador and media spokesperson. BESC also provided free pre- and post-event public relations to support the event.
Triumphs
- Attendee numbers grew by 20 percent to 1,200 pax
- Competition categories expanded from eight to ten
- Event became the ‘must attend’ event for Australian and Asia-Pacific coffee roasters
- Attracted entrants and delegates from across Australia, New Zealand, Asia, USA and South America
- Attendees brought family and, taking advantage of the Sunshine Coast’s holiday magnetism, extended their stay
- Speakers reported delegates absorbed valuable lessons about coffee innovations and business development.
In confirmation that the location was a great drawcard, the client confirmed future events for the Sunshine Coast and also expanded the event to include a Green Coffee Zone an exhibition area where delegates can cup up to 100 origins, source new coffees and develop new business relationships.
