The welcoming reception at the Hilton foreshadowed great things yet to come. One by one, top executives from the tea and coffee communities arrived with an abundance of enthusiasm about the start of the event the next day. The air was filled with the electricity of excited voices from nearly every country from around the world.
Vienna’s grand Messe Center was the site of the Exhibition and Symposium. The culminating result of a project two years in the making, under the cooperative effort of Tea & Coffee Trade Journal’s editors, publishers, and show coordinators, was revealed to the delegates on June 3. Busy organizers carried out last minute details in order to make sure the exhibition floor was perfect. Cafe owners were in search of roasters, who in turn met with roasting and grinding equipment manufacturers; syrup and flavor manufacturers looked for new connections with visiting and exhibiting tea packers; tea and coffee producers met with importers; and new and innovative private label scenarios were discussed. Business opportunities and transactions were developed and conducted in every corner of the exhibition floor, while major concerns within the industry were discussed at the symposium. From the latest research to the latest tea and coffee prices, no pertinent issue was left unturned.
The fun, excitement, and success of the 1997 Exhibition and Symposium led to the decision of holding a third conference in September of 1999 in one of Europe’s fastest growing coffee markets… Barcelona, Spain.
