The time has finally arrived for the 2001 Tea & Coffee World Cup in Amsterdam, June 26 - 28. This is our magazine's fourth Sympo­sium & Exhibition. To date we have held rather successful World Cups in Vienna (twice), Barcelona - and now we've organized a great show in Amsterdam.

Part of why we chose Amsterdam is its central European location: trans­portation to this enchanting city is generally reasonable from neighboring countries, and the city is easily accessible to attendees visiting from over­seas. Amsterdam is also an obvious choice due to its fast-growing coffee bar/café culture and its rich history of and economical dependence on tea.

We hold our Exhibition & Symposiums in order to bring the global tea and coffee industries together to discuss the future of the industry and to help trade members prepare for what is to come. Our Exhibition floor boosts over 200 companies, which will be displaying their wares and ser­vices including green coffee, retail store supplies processing, roasting and packing equipment and much more. Everything useful to tea and coffee businesses will be available on this exhibition floor.

Nearly 50 speakers have set aside the time and expense to help us de­liver an informative and educational Symposium. Our tea and coffee fo­rums; in which the audience actively participates in discussions with our manufacturers, growers, importers, and associations; have been very pop­ular in the past and we hope to repeat their success. One never knows where these discussions will lead - and that element of surprise just adds to the fun. We expect that this event will give the industry ample opportu­nity to discuss the ills of our industry, motivating us all to take on the chal­lenge to solve them. We thank all our speakers for articulating their passion for the trade.

We invite you all to come and enjoy our Tea & Coffee World Cup in Amsterdam.

Jane McCabe
Editor & Co-Publisher