This January saw the third edition of World of Coffee return to Dubai, and with its return came the crowds to support the coffee community of the region. Mare Terra Coffee made the trip too this year with our friends at IRM Coffee Roasting Machines from Greece. On display at the centre of the event was their iRm_3 model, which is really at the forefront of roasting technology. The energy effeciency combined with the design and green coffee roasting technology, produced some outstanding results on our lots Sirius AMAR from Ethiopia and Alnitak AFRE from Guatemala that we featured on the brew bar during the event.
Events such as these are great opportunities to reconnect with those who are otherwise on the otherside of the world. It was great to catch up with our producing partners from Rwanda at Baho, Emmanuel, and Kenean from Daye Bensa in Ethiopia. Their partnerships are the cornerstones of our East African Lots and a valuable collaboration with our R and D team working at origin. Emmanuels lots Ikivuguto and Cih AME were featured with another partner of ours Marco from Ireland, whose continue support helps us to realise our events such as our annual Open de Cata competition
As the Middle Eastern specialty coffee market grows, so to does their love of gadgets. This year saw a many unvailings and demonstrations of coffee technology pushing the boundaries for excellence and efficacy. One of the standouts that caught my attention was the autonomous lever espresso machine from Meticoulous. This is next level Home Barista, with its “robotic lever” and digital motor to pull high precision shots. Anothern staple for the event were the quality and diversity of lectures. I happened to sit in on Zimbawe’s Hillary Chindodo, who curated some great reflection with his talk From Farmer to Cup: Rethinking the Coffee Value Chain. And for those working on branding and consumer behaviour, The lecture from Dr. Fabiana Carvalho on The Extrinsic Matters: Packaging Colour and Consumer Behaviour was an invaluable talk highlighting the importance of a first impression even before the taste has been considered. the take away was how colour plays a huge role in attracting the consumer and how it creates a hedonic and sensoray expectations
Last but not least, it wouldn’t be a WOC event without the buzz from the various competitions. This year The competition featured the most talented baristas in the UAE vying for the spot of champion and the honour to represent the Emirates at the World Barista Championship. Michaela Rnazol from Typica Cafe secured the first place while the second place went to Kemal Risyad from Archers Coffee, followed by Nooran Al Bannay from Coffee Architecture at the third place
