that preparations for the 1999 Tea and Coffee Symposium and Exhibition were in the works from the moment the 1997 conferences ended, it came as no surprise that the Barcelona show was the most successful conference to date. Everyone’s expectations were exceeded by the attendance of 535 delegates at the symposium, 180 companies exhibiting their products and services, and over 5,000 industry members from the local Spanish cities of Madrid and Seville to far away countries such as Russia, Ethiopia and Australia. The staff of the Tea & Coffee Trade Journal spent a great deal of time devising new ways of coordinating and executing a show that would build upon the best of past conventions and deliver prosperous new results.
The main intentions of this conference were to promote dialogue among the delegates and stimulate trade in the tea and coffee industries. One of the main symposium topics stressed the urgent need to rethink how coffee and tea companies market their brand to younger drinkers. It was established that the key to industry growth lies in successfully injecting the market with new and innovative advertising. Representatives from all sectors of the industry sat together to discuss this issue among others that constantly arise during business talks and negotiations, but are rarely addressed directly in an open forum. The symposium gave delegates the opportunity to tackle such subjects during panel discussions. Among the issues discussed included risks for the trader and the effects of varying market prices, aid for new farming methods and fair trade labeling.
Over 80 delegates attended the first day of the Tea Symposium to see a panel of key figures in the tea industry discussed topics ranging from the pursuit of quality to worldwide availability and trends. Concerns were shared over the current trend of advertisers to overstate the effects that antioxidants have upon health. Other worries that were addressed included the future of organic tea and the effects of a virtual auction site on the Internet on the tea industry. By the end of the day, the symposium had run well over schedule. But it had proved to be a prime example of what a symposium is supposed to do: provide a forum in which different perspectives are put forth for the betterment of the industry.
Quality was a main topic of conversation in Barcelona from the symposium to the exhibition hall and even during breaks and social events. Although a quality standard continues to be developed, it is not the actual development of such a concept that matters as much as the thought process and relative actions taken in response to its discovery that carries the success of the industry. Participants at the 1999 Symposium and Exhibition witnessed the flourishing of such ideas, actions and connections that will provide for the continuing growth of the tea and coffee industries. Attendees were anxiously awaiting the continuation of dialogue at the next World Cup to be held in Amsterdam in 2001.
