‘A great start to an amazing finish’ best describes the third edition of Café Malaysia. The event which was officially opened by Guest-of-Honour, Yang Berhormat Dato’ Seri Mohamed Nazri bin Abdul Aziz, Minister of Tourism and Culture, Ministry of Tourism and Culture Malaysia on January 12, 2017, drew more than 11,000 trade and public visitors to the MATRADE Exhibition & Convention Centre.
The highly successful Café Malaysia series, first launched in 2015, is the largest gathering of the tea and coffee industries in Malaysia and one of the largest in Southeast Asia. This dynamic B2B platform is sought after by key decision makers as a sourcing destination for their café needs and to explore new collaborations and opportunities in a country where the number of specialty coffee drinkers has increased over the years.
This year, Café Malaysia 2017 hosted 138 exhibitors from 18 countries and welcomed more than 11,000 baristas, café and coffee purveyors, coffee roasters, equipment distributors and members of the public.
The 3-day exhibition introduced some of the latest innovations, developments and technologies at exclusive workshops, classes and demonstrations by industry experts on everything coffee and tea. Sasa Sestic, World Barista Champion 2015, spoke on ‘The Importance of Quality and Freshness of Green Beans in Our Cafes’ at the show’s inaugural Malaysia Coffee Forum. The Australian barista was joined by Henry Wilson, CEO and Founder of Perfect Daily Grind, who presented his thoughts on ‘Specialty Coffee: Building a Digital Brand’ and delved deeper into the rise of social media in building relationships with customers.
The crowds at Café Malaysia 2017 were also thrilled by the competitors of the three national championships, Malaysia National Barista Championship 2017 (MBC), Malaysia Latte Art Championship 2017 (MLAC) and Malaysia Brewers Cup Championship 2017 (MBrC). The winner from each respective national championship will represent Malaysia at the world coffee championships at Budapest, Hungary and Seoul, Korea.
Café Malaysia is organized by Conference and Exhibitions Management Services (CEMS) and is hosted by the Malaysia Specialty Coffee Association (MSCA). MSCA is a member of the ASEAN Coffee Federation (ACF). The event is supported by Ministry of Tourism and Culture Malaysia and the Malaysia Convention and Exhibition Bureau and endorsed by MATRADE.