STiR coffee and tea magazine

STiR coffee and tea 31 saw, Poland — announced it would be postponed until Oc- tober, same venue. "As announced on March 11, [SCA] has been working with our partner venue in Poland to review options for postponing World of Coffee in response to the global CO- VID-19 outbreak, said Yannis Apostolopoulos, chief execu- tive officer, SCA. "Today, we are announcing an agreement with our partners … to post- pone World of Coffee to Oc- tober 15-17, 2020, the only dates available in 2020." At this point mid-March, only one show remained on STiR's event calendar for the March-July period, and that was SCA's Global Coffee Expo and Re:co Symposium scheduled for April 22-25, for Portland, Oregon. Although it was a foregone conclusion to everyone in the industry that the show had to be can- celed, as no one would be able to attend, SCA sent out an un- clear message on March 18 to participants: "I want to take this op- portunity to give you as much information as legally pos- sible," said Apostolopoulos in a video message, which indi- cated difficulties negotiating alternative arrangements with the hall and legal obstacles to postponing the event. "Despite CDC's recom- mendations, the state of Or- egon has issued orders that only cancel events until April 14, which would leave SCA, the convention center, our exhibitors, hotels, and the dozens of other businesses who make expo possible ev- ery year in legal limbo with contradictory directions from the federal and state govern- ments." However, a few days later, SCA Portland was can- celed outright, citing an in- ability to reach an agreement on alternative dates with the exhibition center. "We are heartbroken that we will not be able to see you in Portland this year, but we look forward to seeing you in New Orleans in 2021," said Apostolopoulos, referring to the location of SCA's already scheduled annual US event for 2021. If virus concerns go away – soon – and it is safe for coffee and tea people to go back on the road, it's clear that many will be spending much of late September through early December at- tending regularly scheduled events combined now with the re-scheduled events from earlier in the year. For example, in the last week of September, the already scheduled shows Specialty Coffee & Tea Asia (Singapore), Global Dubai Tea Forum, and Single Serve Capsules Berlin might now be competing with visitors to the rescheduled SIAL China being held at the same time. In the last week of October, the already scheduled SCAJ 2020 (Tokyo) and Xiamen Tea Fair (China) are now competing for global visitors and exhibitors with the rescheduled World Tea Expo (Denver) and World of Coffee (Warsaw) all being held at the same time. Even more of a challenge for organizers and participants will be the first week of November, when the already scheduled and popular Café Show Seoul is now being held at the same time as the rescheduled MICE Melbourne and Gulfood Manufacturing, the latter of which has now been combined with Gulfhost, rescheduled from earlier in the year. Many exhibitions took the later-in-the-year postponement approach; others skipped ahead to 2021, such as the ASIC Coffee science conference (Montpelier, France); FHA Food & Bever- age (Singapore), the second half of the split FHA shows; and possibly the biggest move of all, Interpack, the major packaging industry exhibition held every three years in Dusseldorf, now postponed from early May to February 28-March 3, 2021. We'll know shortly if those postponing to 2021 were the wiser, noting that FHA HoReCa, originally scheduled for early March and rescheduled for mid-July has just announced another "postponement" — with no new dates offered this time. Key Coffee/Tea Events Canceled/Postponed due to COVID-19 Coffee / Tea Related Event Originally Scheduled Location Status New Dates FHA HoReCa March 3-6, 2020 Singapore POSTPONED July 13-16, 2020 (ALSO canceled) Expo West March 3-7, 2020 Anaheim CA USA CANCELED Thailand Coffee Fest March 12-15. 2020 Bangkok, Thailand POSTPONED Oct. 1-4, 2020 China Int Specialty Coffee Expo March 18-22, 2020 Pu'er, China CANCELED Hotelex Shanghai March 29-April 1, 2020 Shanghai, China POSTPONED June 15-18, 2020 FHA Food & Beverage March 31-April 3, 2020 Singapore POSTPONED March 2-5, 2021 London Coffee Festival Apr. 2-5,2020 London UK POSTPONED July 23-26,2020 Gulfhost April 6-8, 2020 Dubai, UAE POSTPONED Nov. 3-5, 2020 RE:CO Symposium April 22-23, 2020 Portland OR USA CANCELED Global Specialty Coffee Expo April 24-26, 2020 Portland OR USA CANCELED Internat'l Coffee Council (ICO) Apr. 27-May 1, 2020 London UK CANCELED MICE Melbourne May 7-13, 2020 Melbourne, Australia POSTPONED Nov. 3-6, 2020 NAMA Show May 6-8, 2020 Nashville TN USA CANCELED Interpack May 7-13, 2020 Dusseldorf, Germany POSTPONED Feb. 25-March 3, 2021 SIAL China May 13-15, 2020 Shanghai, China POSTPONED Sept. 28-30, 2020 National Restaurant Assn Show May 16-19, 2020 Chicago IL USA CANCELED THAIFEX-Anuga May 26-30, 2020 Bangkok, Thailand POSTPONED Sept. 22-26, 2020 World Tea Expo June 10-11, 2020 Denver CO USA POSTPONED Oct. 15-16, 2020 World Tea Conference June 12-13, 2020 Denver CO USA POSTPONED Oct. 17-18, 2020 World of Coffee June 18-20, 2020 Warsaw, Poland POSTPONED Oct. 15-17, 2020 ASIC Conference June 22-25, 2020 Montpelier, France POSTPONED June 28-July 1, 2021 World Coffee Conf & Expo Sept 7-9, 2020 Bangalore, India POSTPONED No new dates EDITOR'S NOTE: A even more ominous sign that 2020 might become "The Year Without Exhibitions" arrived by WhatsApp at STiR magazine literally as the magazine was going to press. The International Coffee Organization's World Coffee Conference and Exhibition, held every four years and slated for September in Ban- galore, has been indefinitely postponed.

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