...COTECA Hamburg gets off to a great start.

New international meeting point for the coffee, tea and cocoa markets

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.