Celebrate the corporate bean

Trussell

I'm interested to know why there are no small local roasters at melbourne's "celebrate the bean"...
I was talking with one roaster recently, lamenting the lack of anything really worthwhile at the show, and apparently it costs heaps to put in a stand.
You might know what costs are involved, admin, as there has been a Crema stall in the past, but surely the melbourne food and wine show would want to be supporting and showcasing the best small business and local produce.
They should really be subsidising the smaller companies rather than limiting it to companies like grinders, coffex, vittoria, coffico etc. etc.

askthecoffeeguy

really? i went last year and there was at least 5 coffee stalls if i recall rightly and they weren't all the big boys...

admin

Hi Anth - have to say I agree with you, and that's part of the reason we weren't there last year...although didn't it end up getting cancelled?? While the Aroma Coffee Festival in the Rocks has its faults, at least the intention is to showcase the small guys - from memory, I think the stands for small roasters are only $500. My understanding is that Celebrate is purely commercial, which would tend to mean that only the big companies can afford to attend. Shame really. -A

melbournecoffeeguy

I'm interested to know why there are no small local roasters at melbourne's "celebrate the bean"... I was talking with one roaster recently, lamenting the lack of anything really worthwhile at the show, and apparently it costs heaps to put in a stand. You might know what costs are involved, admin, as there has been a Crema stall in the past, but surely the melbourne food and wine show would want to be supporting and showcasing the best small business and local produce. They should really be subsidising the smaller companies rather than limiting it to companies like grinders, coffex, vittoria, coffico etc. etc.

What do smaller companies get out of spending thousands of dollars on these events when they will generate virtually NO return? It is not worth it. (Mod Note: Point taken but inflammatory content removed)

Trussell

thats my problem. and why I was asking... the event is under the guise of the melbourne food and wine festival which is there to: "promote the quality produce, talent and lifestyle of Melbourne and the State of Victoria and to reinforce Melbourne as the pre-eminent culinary city of Australia" MFW are not promoting quality produce or melbourne produce. you wouldn't see them only showcasing VB, carlton draught, and fosters at the beer tasting so i don't know why they force this part of the festival into that sort of position. Good to hear St Ali showed up.

askthecoffeeguy

I don't think that anyone is going to argue that the celebrate the bean festival is about quality - what I will say though is that the massive turnout in unprecedented numbers to my mind at least confirms the status of coffee in the Melbourne community The ability for a product, any product, to attract the patronage of tens of thousands of people ought not to be easily dismissed Whether or not this adds up to additional sales for the individual stall holders, or whether it confirms their entrenched position in the market place, is another matter altogether Pat

DoubleRistretto

I don't think that anyone is going to argue that the celebrate the bean festival is about quality

actually Pat - if you look at a couple of the above posts, that seems exactly what people are arguing!!

askthecoffeeguy

too true its a shame really for the stall holders, esp the little guys, who are unlikely to see much if any increase in patronage as a result of their presence