Coffee Masterclasses

Award-winning baristas, important coffee market executives, owners and representatives of leading coffee brands discussed the present and future of coffee industry in the Coffee Masterclasses.

During the program of Coffee Masterclasses all the new trends dominating the contemporary international coffee scene and ideas that contribute to its further development, were being presented. Masterclasses seminars took place at Αmphitheater of Technopolis, City of Athens. The program has been curated by Snack&Coffee magazine and the panels and speeches were coordinated by Editorial Director Eleni Manika.

Monday, September 26^th – Post show

The day started with the panel entitled “The power of influencers” where Stavros Lambrinidis (AST Authorized SCA Trainer), Michalis Dimitrakopoulos (Rabbit Punch-Underdog), Michalis Katsiavos (Seven steps coffee roasters) and Katerina Konstantopoulou (Communication Manager FORUM SA) discussed the enormous potential of social media, especially in the coffee sector, and that their use is a non-negotiable condition for building the right image of a brand, whether it concerns a company or a person. Then Fotis Lefas of Coffee Lovers spoke about the very specialized topic of sample roasting, a necessary and very demanding process carried out by the head roaster of a company in order to demonstrate the suitability of a representative sample of a farm or supplier, before it reaches the warehouse to be used in a blend. Along the way, P. Maziounis (Roasters Kolektiva), M. Sotiriou (Distretto), K. Perpinias (Mr Bean), A. Kotsifakis (Seed Coffee Company) referred to the fact that there is a global trend towards the micro-roastery, i.e. the cafes themselves now roast their coffee of choice. This is a trend of roasting specialty coffees of higher quality and moving away from commercial chains, with the result that micro-roasteries are increasing even in our country. Nikos Antzaras, Seraphim Zoukas, Dimitris Pantelis & Costas Kalafatas from Samba Coffee Roasters spoke about the requirements, difficulties, training that a barista who chooses the path to becoming a world champion goes through, as well as the benefits he gets from it. Another topic very important for baristas that was discussed was the pivotal importance that ice plays in the preparation of quality coffee.

Chrysanthi Sotiropoulou (Icebox) and Nikos Trellopoulos (Wellness Stores) referred to the fact that ice is a basic raw material and gave the necessary tips that every barista should know, such as the choosing ice company must use iso protocols and be certified. Then, Panagiotis Bafis of Bafis Design, presented ideas and proposals on how a coffee shop can obtain a modern, original and ergonomic environment for its customers. The day and the Coffee Masterclasses as a whole were concluded with the panel of Kamil Kamieniecki (Samba Coffee Roasters), Olga Vagiakakou (Create) and Panagiotis Spyropoulou (Coffee First -MOC) who held a very interesting discussion about the importance of branding in specialty coffee. As they said in an age where the choices are countless, one of the best ways for a company to highlight specialty coffee is to promote its authenticity, the characteristics that make it unique and make it stand out. This is the most important basis on which the “building” of its brand must be based.

Sunday, September 25th – Post show

During the first panel of the day, were analyzed all the new digital tools needed by a coffee business in order to upgrade the services it offers and increase its profits, serve its customers better and more economically and strengthen their image in relation to the competition. Digital catalog, site, social wifi hotspot, mobile application and online ordering system were some of the proposals presented by Stavros Vasos of Butler, N. Tsaknis of Digihart and G. Panteliadis of Notice Content and Service. Yannis Taloumis of Taf Coffee then spoke about the evolution of coffee processing and how it affects the taste characteristics. As he said, the standards as well as the demands of the public, who now pay attention to the smallest detail in their cup, have led to the development of alternative coffee processing methods that bring out the complex aromas of each variety in a unique way. Panagiotis Haskos of Caffe’ Luigi Haskos Ltd analyzed the factors that shape the price of the final cup of coffee so that a business can make a profit, which are the study and taste tests, the weight loss during roasting, the fuel for the roasting machine, the cost of electricity, the cost quality control but also the cost of packaging and label materials. Then H.E. Mr. Bebeb A.K. N. Djundjunan, Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia & Christos Loukakis talked about Indonesian coffee, its great tradition, history and unique taste. Among other things, they said that in Indonesia both Arabica and Robusta are cultivated, but also an endemic hybrid between the two varieties, which we find on the island of Timor. Also, that Indonesia is consistently among the five largest coffee producers in the world and the second largest Asian Coffee Power.

Costas Vallianos of Area 51, presented in detail the main factors affecting international coffee prices, which are: the global levels of unroasted coffee stocks, the forecasts for the next harvests in the key countries, i.e. Brazil and Colombia, the currency rates, weather phenomena, transport costs, availability of means of transport, energy costs, global events such as the coronavirus pandemic, the war in Ukraine as a factor that has affected fertilizer production.

Another panel stole that gained a lot of attention was that of S. Danielidou (Innovative Coffee Systems), L. Agalis (HELLENIC IMPEX), Th. Vassilopoulos (Espressor) and P. Lagios (Tropical Café), who presented innovative proposals in coffee machines and equipment. Also, Valantis Lambrianidis, representative of AQUA Carpatica, spoke about the catalytic role that the water play in the preparation of a quality coffee. Hardness, ph, alkalinity as well as tds (total dissolved solids) are elements that a barista should and must know what they are and how they affect the quality elements of our coffee as well as the final taste profile. Finally, N. Kanakaris (Caffeistas), G. Makropoulos (Nestlé Professional) and S. Domatiotis (Create) presented the basic characteristics and requirements of coffee according to their country of origin.

Saturday, September 24th – Post show

The first day of the seminars began with the speech of Alexandros Panagoulias of Purity Green, who referred to the shift observed worldwide by consumers to some different beverage proposals beyond the classic coffee, such as healthy beverages, a trend which has begun to expand to the catalogs of catering businesses. He also mentioned the important benefits that these drinks have on the body. Then Dimitris Mantis of Matrix Pack spoke about the progress so far of the implementation of the European legislation on single-use plastics in the catering industry in our country and the difficulties that many businessmen are facing due to the restriction of the use of plastic cups and food containers. Nikos Koumaniotis and Andreas Mastorakis of Coffee Island referred to the very important part of staff training with the aim of always offering the consumer not only a quality product but also a high level of service. They talked about the fact that the continuous training of the staff on the unique art of coffee, aims for each individual employee to be an ambassador of the vision that each company has towards the consumer. A speech that gained the strong interest of the audience was that of Ilaria Danesi of Danesi Caffè, who spoke about the difficulties arising for coffee trading companies from the increased demand for sustainable coffee – from production and purchase costs, the economic and social conditions that they are formed for the producer himself and the place etc-.

Igor Pedron of Pedron Caffè analyzed the roasting profile of Italian espresso, since as he mentioned roasting is one of the most important stages in the coffee chain and largely determines the taste and aroma result. In fact, he mentioned that now with the advent of the third wave, coffees are of higher quality and their roasting should be light simply to emphasize their organoleptic characteristics. Along the way, Stelios Roumeliotis of Coffee Lab presented in detail the economic benefits that a business by offering breakfast in their menu options, which the customer can combine with his coffee. In the next panel, Yiannis Papadopoulos of IP-CC and Pavlos Lagios of Tropical Café presented innovative products and equipment for coffee shops who wish to acquire the possibility to roast in their space as much coffee as they need and whenever they need it.