The World of Coffee and World Barista Championships will be held in Dublin from June 23-25, 2016. This is only the second time these events have coincided and been held in the same city. Thousands of coffee enthusiasts from over 100 countries will attend World of Coffee, where they can witness the best baristas compete in the World Barista Championships. Ireland's representative in the championships is Natalia Piotrowska, who has won the Irish National Barista Championships for the past two years and owns a coffee consulting business. She hopes to see continued growth in specialty coffee and new coffee varieties in Ireland and around the world.

1. coffee universe
21H&RT APRIL/MAY 2016
For the first time ever World of Coffee and the World Barista
Championships are coming to Dublin’s RDS from 23rd-25th June. This
is a fantastic honour for the city of Dublin – it is only every second
year that the Championships coincide with the World of Coffee event
which moves to a different city each year - and it’s happening here in
Dublin.
World of Coffee
Owned and organised by the Speciality Coffee Association of Europe
(SCAE), World of Coffee is the flagship event in the European coffee
calendar which moves to a different city each year. Thousands of
coffee enthusiasts from more than 100 countries will converge on
Dublin - this event is all about innovation and trend setting and
nowhere else will you witness the best of the best competing under
one roof!
World Barista Championship
The World Barista Championship (WBC) is the preeminent
international coffee competition produced annually by World Coffee
Events (WCE). The competition focuses on promoting excellence in
coffee, advancing the barista profession and engaging a worldwide
audience with an annual championship event that serves as the
culmination of national events around the globe.
This year, champions representing 60 Nations will each prepare four
espressos, four cappuccinos, and four original signature drinks in a
15-minute performance for the chance to win the coveted title of
World Barista Champion.
Ireland’s Champion – Natalia Piotrowska
The Irish National Barista Championships were held at Food & Bev Live
2016 in February and the overall winner was announced as Natalia
Piotrowska who has the great honour of representing Ireland at the
World Barista Championships.
Natalia’s been competing for the last five years and was crowned
Irish Barista Champion in 2015 and 2016. She also owns and runs
Coffee Consultancy Events
which offers coffee training,
consulting services for coffee
establishments, cafes, hotels and
restaurants and provides coffee
bars for individual events.
Baristas and the Coffee
Industry on Home Turf
For Natalia;“There are a lot of
places in Ireland where there
are very good baristas with
amazing techniques and coffee
knowledge but baristas should
also have great customer service
skills.
All these factors could and
should be improved on a daily
basis if baristas want to keep
serving excellent coffee”.
Consistency in delivery can sometimes be a problem, however, most
coffee outlets are trying to maintain consistency in coffee by investing
in better and more consistent equipment - Coffee making and
delivery is getting better all the time.
Trends and opportunities in the coffee market
The coffee business is developing and there are plenty of
opportunities. For Natalia, the hope is to see a continuous growth in
the level of care and attention when it comes to rare and new varieties
of bean. Some coffee professionals are stepping into the role of
producer by purchasing coffee farms.
“This is a very exciting development as some of these new varieties
have huge potential in them and this is not only on the tasting
experience side. They are more resistant to leaf rust and other diseases
and with the problem of climate change, exploring them is essential
for the future of the coffee industry”, Natalia said.
In terms of innovation in the industry, Natalia notes the innovations
at coffee farm levels – the growing, maintaining and processing of the
coffee conveyed from wine industry – as a very promising innovation
for the industry.
In the European market, Natalia believes the trend of independent
coffee shops opening is going to continue. She believes we will also
see the bigger coffee chains reinventing themselves as specialty
coffee roasters and speciality coffee shops. According to research, the
amount of branded coffee shops in Ireland is going to increase also.
According to Natalia,“For hotels and restaurants, their coffee
offering must match what is being served in speciality coffee outlets.
Consumers are better educated and demanding a higher quality of
coffee and a consistency in delivery”.
Dublin
-TheCentreoftheCoffeeUniverse
What’sHappening @ WorldofCoffee!
• SCAE Ireland created a new World of Coffee Ambassadors’
Club which will feature up to 35 top cafés, restaurants, hotels
and bars serving quality coffee in the Irish capital and support
them through a range of training and marketing initiatives.
• The new Sustainability Forum is to become the hub for
discussion at World of Coffee, with key talks on the economic,
environmental and social challenges the industry faces.
• Re:co (Regarding: coffee) is a unique European Coffee Summit
designed for high-level discussion, leading innovation and
strategy development for those passionate and influential in
the world of specialty coffee.
• Another popular feature of the event is the New Product of
the Show Awards. The Awards are only open to exhibitors at
World of Coffee Dublin who have introduced a new product
or service to the market since June 2015 or will launch a
new product at this year’s show in Dublin. The standard for
these awards has always been extremely high and it is very
prestigious to win.
According to Natalia;“World of Coffee is one of the greatest
coffee gatherings which allows you to explore the world of
specialty coffee and allows you to spend time in the amazing
atmosphere with coffee enthusiasts from around the world.
Also, Dublin is host to the World Barista Championships event
and I would love for all you baristas out there to cheer me on
while representing Ireland and hopefully taking home the
trophy – we’ve got the home advantage!”
Don’tmissout–getyourtickets,comealongandshowyour
supportforNatalia!
You can avoid the queues at World of Coffee by registering for
tickets now on
www.worldofcoffee-dublin.com
Aisling Wynne, PR Director, Crimson Communications