India International Coffee Festival, 2016

India’s flagship coffee summit, India International Coffee Festival, organized by India Coffee Trust and supported by the Coffee Board of India concluded successfully. Playing perfect hosts to their guests were Ms. Leena Nair, Chairman Coffee Board of India and Chairman, IICF Steering Committee along with Mr. Anil Kumar Bhandari, President India Coffee Trust and Vice Chairman IICF Steering Committee were seen interacting with industry delegates and thought leaders from the Coffee fraternity amongst others at the event. The finale of the event saw Ms Rita Teaotia, IAS, Secretary, Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce & Industries, Government of India grace the occasion as the key note speaker. Speaking on the event she said, “It is my pleasure to be speaking at the India International Coffee Festival and notice how Coffee is slowly foraying into the non-traditional markets of the country. It is heartening to note that about 35% of the Indian Coffee Exports in the year 2014-15 were due to value-added products. The 12th plan has a comprehensive avenue through which subsidies can also be availed for export of high-value green coffee to far off destinations and value-added coffee as India brand”

Giving a brief overview of the Coffee Industry were Industry Stalwarts Mr Sushant Dash, Mr Sanjiv Sarin, Mr Rajkamal Sharma, and Mr Shiva Krishnamurthy amongst others. Topics such as Trends in Coffee Consumption, Advances in Coffee and Industry Forecasts were discussed by veterans such as Dr Stefan Schenker, Dr G.V. Krishna Rau and Dr Marino Petracco amongst a bevy of other thought provoking speakers.

A preview of the highly acclaimed movie ‘Caffeinated’ by Mr Vishal Solanki witnessed the biggies of the industry come together to celebrate all things coffee, followed by felicitation of the winners from the coffee awards ceremony for which, Ms Manisha Koirala, Actor & Mr R.K. Krishna Kumar, Trustee, Tata Trust played chief guests.

Startups have completely transformed the way India consumes their Coffee be it Coffee delivery or E-commerce or Cafés or Roast & Ground Coffee sellers. IICF hosted founders of popular startups Blue Tokai, The Indian Bean, The Flying Squirrel and Moojic amongst others to speak about the thriving start up culture in the Indian Coffee Industry.

The biennial festival began from January 19th -23rd, 2016 at The Lalit, Mumbai. Concluding the event, Ms Leena Nair,IAS, Chairman, Coffee Board of India and Chairman, IICF Steering Committee said ‘ We have received a tremendous response this year and really glad that we saw such great participation globally. We are looking forward to having you back with us in 2018.’

Talking about the India International Coffee Festival, Mr. Anil Kumar Bhandari, President India Coffee Trust and Vice Chairman IICF Steering Committee said, “The primary focus of IICF 2016 is to create a gateway to India’s unsaturated market through this platform for Indian and International stakeholders. We aim at increasing coffee footprint across the country. The theme for this year’s festival is “Celebrating with Coffee”. We see a great future to retail coffee in the country. Through the workshops arranged as part of this festival, we are encouraging and training coffee enthusiasts by creating skilled resources in the industry as that is the need of the hour today!”

IICF 2016 is crafted to provide a glimpse into the current coffee developments & emerging opportunities and will connect the entire coffee industry through a series of educative, business, networking & festive events. Several eminent speakers, industry specialists and globally renowned experts discussed & deliberated on how coffee technology has evolved over the last 2 years.

The 5-day festival comprised of an International Conference Exhibition for all things coffee, Skill-building workshops, Product launches, Coffee Quiz, Coffee Awards, and a host of other exciting activities. The festival will served as a platform for many Coffee Growers, Roasters, Retailers, Equipment suppliers, Researchers and entrepreneurs. Visitors will get to enjoy coffee tastings, hands-on workshops, demonstrations from world-class baristas, a preview of the latest products and so much more.

This year the festival saw as many as 600 delegates for the conference and skill building workshops. More than 60 companies are exhibiting at the Coffee Expo, drawing visitors from across the globe. Leading brands like Hindustan Unilever, Tata Coffee, Nestle, Leo Coffee, Buhler, Kaapi Machines MK Associates, Swiss Pack, Bunn-O-Matic, Diedrich, CMA, Probat, YARA India, Rabo Bank, Eltex marketing Services, Controlmatic, etc. are exhibiting at the event .Coffee Board rewarded the Best Roasters, Curers, Exporters as well as Finest Coffees at the Awards Ceremony to be held at the event. For the first time, through online popular voting, India’s Best Cafés were also recognized and rewarded.

IICF also organized a Café Crawl in Mumbai during the event, where Coffee aficionados were taken through some of the Best Coffee Spots in the city, right from the quaint little filter coffee joints to the downtown chic cafes, while tasting their signature coffees along the way.