The World Barista Championship is going back to Korea! The Specialty Coffee Association has announced the first-ever World of Coffee event in Asia, and they are heading to Busan in May of 2024.
Announced Sunday, April 23rd by the SCA, World of Coffee Busan will take place May 1st through 4th at the Busan Exhibition & Convention Center (BEXCO) as part of the WoC’s expansion into Asia. And it brings with it the World Barista Championship. This is not the first time the WBC has been held in South Korea. The premier barista competition was first held in the country back in 2017 in Seoul as part of the Cafe Show Seoul.
In the press release, SCA CEO Yannis Apostolopoulos states:
We are delighted to bring World of Coffee, our leading coffee trade show, to Asia for the very first time. The coffee market in Asia has been booming for many years, and World of Coffee in Busan will be the platform at which coffee companies across Asia and around the world will be able to connect, network, and drive innovation in the specialty coffee space. We are proud to be working with our long-time partners at Exporum on this project, who as our official licensed partner, will produce and deliver a World of Coffee that is tailored to the unique coffee culture in the region.
World of Coffee Busan joins other World of Coffee events in Dubai and Europe on the 2024 global coffee trade show calendar. The location of the European stop in June has yet to be announced, but it is expected to host the remaining World Coffee Championships events; World of Coffee Dubai will host the UAE Barista Championship.
For more information, visit the World Coffee Event’s official website.
Zac Cadwalader is the managing editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.
