African coffee exhibition plans for 2012
Make a note in your diary – if you are free and can fly over to Ethiopia between 16-18 February 2012 and you like coffee, you’re in for a treat. What’s going down? There is to be the ninth African Fine Coffee Conference and Exhibition in the country.
The event was announced by the Eastern African Coffees Association and will take place in Addis Ababa. This association is eleven years old and is a not-for-profit organisation which also prides itself in having no particular political bent either. Rather, it is a regional association, which offers representation to the coffee stakeholders of various member countries, of which Ethiopia is one.
There is a special bond – as you may well know – between Ethiopia and coffee. As well as producing some delicious blends, it is also said to be the birthplace of coffee, or at least the place where it was, allegedly, first discovered. This fact is used as the theme for the exhibition, entitled "Ethiopia: the legendary land of coffee. Where it all began."
Hopefully, a thousand participants will get involved in the exhibition – from coffee suppliers to traders – and will put the spotlight on Ethiopian coffee, showcasing its wares on a stage which will have the attention of the international coffee industry. Certainly, it is hoped that the Ethiopians will showcase their coffee products. The African nation can show that it is just as much a key international player in the coffee industry now as it was at ‘when it all began.’