Coffee Machine News
Milan HOST 2009
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
One of my dreams has finally been realized. In October 2009 I travelled to Milan & Switzerland to visit HOST Milan the most comprehensive Food & Coffee Trade Show in the world.
I felt that after being in the industry for 7 years, it was time that I visited the birth place of coffee! Held every two years, the Milan Show certainly didn't disappoint either as there were almost 1500 exhibitors from over 40 countries represented. There were 11 exhibition halls and total visitor attendance for the 5 days was over 35,000 all from the trade.
Of particular interest to me were the coffee manufacturers that compete here in Australia which is one of the most competitive markets anywhere in the world. All of the major players were there to display the latest European designs and included;
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WMF
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Franke
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Jura
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Bianchi
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Nouva Simonelli
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Schaerer
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Saeco
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Cafina
One of the great things about Italy in general is that everything revolves around coffee. There were hundreds of small & large coffee producers primarily representing the Northern Region of Italy. Every stand offered visitors a tempting aray of coffee beans, coffee pods and coffee capsules. Coffee pods & capsules are not yet that popular here in Australia but in Europe where the most popular coffee's consumed are short blacks, the pods are quick and easy.
After leaving Milan, I travelled with a group of Australian coffee distributors who I have know for many years. We caught a train from Milan -destination Olten, Switzerland to see the JURA factory. We were treated to a personally guided tour from Peter Von Ruher who is the International Service Manager for Jura. We were treated to a fascinating insight into what makes Jura such a well respected brand in Germany & Switzerland. In Germany alone (Jura's largest market) Jura sell over 30,000 machines each year. It was interesting to see how they manage to service over 50 machines every day with such precision and efficiency. After the tour we were shown the new Jura interactive coffee display highlighting the origin of coffee from Africa to where it is today. After the tour we had wonderful lunch & coffee to cap off a perfect day.
Fond memories abound with St.Topez France, Lake Como & Milan Italy being the highlights for me. I am already looking forward to HOST 2011 where I will endeavour to make the pilgrimage again to the mecca of coffee!
