Melbourne International Coffee Expo is open for business. The popular Southern Hemisphere event is embarking on a new era promising a strong brand identity, more diverse audience, and greater value than ever before.
There are few coffee expos in the world that blend a professional trade event with educational value for coffee-loving consumers, but that’s exactly what the Melbourne International Coffee Expo (MICE) does best, and will continue to do.
The 2024 edition of the event saw 10,897 visitors walk through the doors of the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre in May, and event organisers couldn’t be happier to have hit the target attendance.
“This year’s event was vibrant, well attended from representatives of all segments of the global coffee supply chain, and held its purpose as a space for industry buyers and sellers to do business. It helped generate exhibitor leads, connect café owners and baristas with suppliers, and added more value than ever before,” says MICE Show Director Lauren Chartres.
This year’s MICE featured a Café Corner education area for visitors to learn about key topics impacting the local industry, including profitability tips, workflow advice, the steps to sustainability, navigating expansion, and menu creation.
The Global Coffee Report Leaders Symposium welcomed guests to learn from leaders in their field, with topics representing the European Union’s Deforestation Legislation, Business in Asia, and a closer look at the infrastructure of the Australian recycling and composting packaging sector.
“It was a wonderful two days of knowledge sharing. Judging by the sold-out event, our industry is still hungry for knowledge, to learn and thrive, and will actively seek opportunities to enhance their own business decisions,” says GCR Symposium Moderator Sarah Baker.
Beyond education, MICE2024 hosted the second instalment of Australia’s Richest Barista competition, which gained international entries among the country’s top baristas who fought in the knockout-style tournament for their share of AUD$40,000 worth of prize money. The event also announced Australia’s Favourite Roaster; and honoured Scentible Consumable Sensory Kit by Barista Supplies, which won both the Judge’s Choice and People’s Choice Product Innovation Award categories.
Event organisers are already underway in planning MICE2025, which will make its permanent move back to its original calendar month, from 20 to 22 March.
“MICE was initially positioned early in the year until events such as COVID-19, hosting the World Barista Championship, and consequent scheduling backlog post-pandemic pushed the expo further into the year,” says Chartres.
“MICE will become synonymous with March once again, and we’re excited for how this will positively impact international visitors wanting to travel Down Under and make the most of business opportunities in the Asia Pacific.”
Like all renowned international shows, consistency in scheduling is key to local and overseas participation, and MICE General Manager Siobhan Rocks says the expo has already received overwhelming exhibitor interest in next year’s event, with more than 40 per cent of stands already sold at the conclusion of the 2024 event.
“We’re excited to see MICE evolve into the expo Australia and the international market deserves. We can’t wait to deliver that to exhibitors and visitors – bring it on,” says Rocks.
One such exhibitor to already sign up to next year’s event is the WPM brand.
“[MICE] is definitely one of the key events as there aren’t many similar events in the Southern Hemisphere. We attend different expos for each specific market, including Europe, the United Kingdom, China, Japan, and Korea. MICE is important for the Australian and New Zealand (ANZ) market as it draws in Southeast Asian attendants and some Pacific Island attendants too,” says Natalie Yip of WPM.
“MICE2024 was a success for us. We managed to connect with a lot of baristas and home coffee lovers in the region. We wanted to ride on the success and come back next year to further increase our market penetration.”
She adds that with next year’s event on-track to be even bigger and better with more exhibitors, the WPM team is excited to meet new people and build new partnerships.
The company is determined to use MICE to raise brand awareness. It has garnered a lot of recognition in Asia, and hopes to expand that connection even further in the ANZ region. In addition, WPM wants to use MICE as a platform to introduce its products to market, including its range of coffee machines, and new products such as its single-dose grinder, and extensive range of pitchers.
“MICE is a nice way for us to test market response before formally introducing it. We recently launched an online shop for ANZ, so it also helps us promote the shop and encourages our fans to get their hands on our products,” Yip says.
Show Director Chartres adds that MICE is designed to make business decisions easier. Rather than having sales reps on the road for three months seeking out new business, exhibiting at MICE and connecting with key customers is more time efficient and ensures leads and decisions are made quickly.
“MICE is the one annual gathering where business is done. Exhibitors have a unique platform to convey their message, product, and service to their audience. At the other end of the chain, business owners can make all their purchasing decisions and necessary connections in the one place,” she says. “It’s about making smart choices, and taking the time to be at MICE is one of those.”
Going forward, MICE exhibitors will appreciate a reframed audience that will broaden opportunities and industry connections across the foodservice sector.
“For so long, MICE has been positioned as an event that’s relevant to the café industry, and more directly, café owners. While this audience will always remain, we want to target and expand the clientele to embrace a broader foodservice audience, and invite coffee-loving enthusiasts to be part of that culture, with the mindset and understanding that they have purchasing power, and could be future decision makers of the coffee industry too. We want to invite key representatives from across all hospitality sectors and the supply chain to attend MICE2025, and help make a complete and holistic coffee demographic,” says MICE General Manager Rocks.
“Coffee is at the heart of hospitality, and, in today’s market, is an important consideration to venues that go beyond the suburban coffee shop. Think hotels, high-end restaurants, architecture firms, petrol stations, and quick-service restaurants. These new avenues of connection are in the business for coffee solutions, and in a country that values its high standards of coffee output, it is an evolving demographic we need to pay attention too.”
To help drive this vision, MICE will look to connect with governments, chambers of commerce, and agencies such as Austrade to give exhibitors more exposure than ever before.
“MICE is more than Melbourne. It encompasses all of Australia and should therefore be respected as a national event with international recognition,” Rocks says. “MICE is an international hub for the global coffee industry, and we invite you to be part of its future.”
This article was first published in the July/August 2024 edition of Global Coffee Report. Read more HERE.
