Recap: Coffee Roasters Guild 2019

Bonjour, est-ce que je peux avoir un café s’il vous plaît ?

‘Yes!’ is always the answer. Mon amour pour toujours! 

This year’s Coffee Roasters Guild boot camp in Annecy, France was a highly overdosed, exceptionally mind bending, and extraordinarily interesting event. Roasters, producers, green coffee importers, machinery folk, coffee enthusiasts, and volunteers all gathered around the fire to learn more about the crackling mojo of specialty coffee. There were lectures on profiling, fermentation, sustainability, consumer’s behavior, the Q-course, green coffee ageing, and many more exciting topics. Also, we got the opportunity to get hands on in the roasting tent, showcasing more than ten different roasting machines. 

The success of this event, brainchild of the newly(ish) globally unified Coffee Roasters Guild, not only lies in the transfer of knowledge from one genius brain to the other, but it also lies in strengthening and supporting the roasting community in Europe. Knocking roastheads together under one roof creates an ambience of solidarity and good spirits. It also enables mapping out the evolution of the specialty industry: which challenges we face and which values we hold strong. 

For us, as coffee importers, insights gained from events like Roasters Camp are invaluable. Firstly, they help us better understand the challenges and opportunities that specialty coffee roasters are facing in Europe. We take the stories we hear home and posit solutions and interventions, thus better fulfilling our role as a true business partner. Additionally, it helps us to connect our partners at origin more deeply to the supply chain. All this helps us to better provide crucial services to both our partners in Europe and our partners at origin. 

And most importantly, it charges us with fuel to chase those delicious coffees and roast them to their best.