18th Seoul Int’l Cafe Show (Cafe Show 2019)

18th Seoul Int’l Cafe Show (Cafe Show)

November 7^th to 10^th, 2019

Korea Seoul COEX

http://www.cafeshow.com/eng/main.asp

Exhibits: Coffee, Tea, Bakery, Desserts, Ice-cream, Chocolate, Beverage, Raw Materials, Machinery & Equipment, Interior, Franchise & Start-up, Kitchen Appliances, Food Service Industry

Organized by Exporum, the Café Show is globally known. The Café Show helps visitors and exhibitors to find new potential partners and learn about the industry. There are also a handful of events where visitors can enjoy the experience of coffee. The show expects 600 companies participating and over 160,000 visitors from over 80 countries. The entrance fee is one of the most costly but there was a great amount of coffee, tea and other samples that make up for more than the cost. 

The entrance to the show was full of excitement and felt similar to last year. At the entrance of the show, the organizers displayed Cherry’s Choice which shows products that were nominated as the best products from the exhibition. Unlike what was anticipated, there were fewer products related to coffee and more related to other products.

The exhibition was divided into four exhibition areas.

A: Gourmet to Total Equipment

B: Tea to dessert & Item

C: From bean to cup

D: Unique blending

If my memory serves me correctly the Café show in 2018 was mostly focused on coffee and the coffee industry compared to 2019 where there was more tea, bakery and other types of products.

Entering the exhibition through Hall A, the large equipment catches the eyes.  It appears costly but is one of the essential requirements at a café. Most displays were coffee machines with other products such as auto-beverage mixers, ice-cream makers, ice shredders and others.

There were also a number of disposable products such as straws, lids, cups and other products which are for takeout. The trend for these disposable products seems to be towards environmentally friendly products that can be reused or dissolve naturally. However, there were still many companies that did not emphasize environmentally friendly details.

Other related products were different types of syrup and mixes used to make a beverage more appealing and to provide a unique taste to fulfill the needs of consumers.

An interesting fact was that there were three types of alcoholic beverages that did not seem to be a good match for a café show.

 

Café food products and bakery products also shared a portion of the exhibition space. Most of the dessert products were in final packaging, but bakery products seemed to have bakers making bread and dessert inside the booths promoting their products.

While the first floor was a mixture of all different types of products, the second floor was specialized for coffee. Both halls were related to coffee with Hall C exhibiting beans to coffee and Hall D unique blends. As the exhibition’s focus was coffee, most of the visitors showed more interest in the coffee sections.

We could see a focused group of visitors who were interested in specific types of coffee and beans. We observed long lines for different types of coffee and beans.

 

Also, booths provided small sessions inviting renowned baristas offering tips and know-how.

For Futher information regarding the coffee market in Korea please click the link below: Korean's Fuel - Coffee

If you would like to identify and capitalize on business opportunities in Korea, let IRC Guide your Way!  www.ircconsultingkorea.com, Jacob at lsh@ircconsultingkorea.com