The 2022 Specialty Coffee Expo returns in full swing with 10,000+ attendees
Image courtesy of Vanessa L. Facenda
Coffee professionals from around the globe gathered in Boston, Massachusetts, 8-10 April for the 33rd Specialty Coffee Expo, North America’s largest coffee trade show and host of the US Coffee Championships. According to the Specialty Coffee Association, which organises the annual event, this year’s show attracted more than 10,000 attendees, 420 exhibiting companies, and 250 volunteers. Exhibitors travelled from 40 countries of which 20 were coffee-producing countries.
This was the first ‘full Specialty Coffee Expo’ since 2019, with the 2020 event being cancelled and the 2021 Expo being a much smaller show. Exhibitors T&CTJ spoke with were overwhelmingly pleased with the show, saying the Expo “met or even exceeded expectations.”
In addition to the trade show and coffee championships, the Expo offered more than 60 lectures and 30 workshops over the three days.
The 2022 event put a spotlight on the coffee of the South American country of Costa Rica, featured as the official Portrait Country, a designation given to a different coffee-producing country at Expo every year. The 2022 Best New Product Competition recognized nine new products at Expo in nine different categories, judged on their quality and value to the specialty coffee and tea industry. Also awarded at Expo, the Coffee Design Awards recognised three companies for great design in spaces, brand, and packaging. All Best New Product submissions and winners can be found on new.sca.coffee and all Coffee Design Awards submissions and winners can be found at design.sca.coffee.
The 2022 US Coffee Championships took place in the Activities Hall and featured six competitions across the three days. The six new champions are:
• US Barista Champion — Morgan Eckroth
• US Brewers Cup Champion — Elika Liftee
• US Coffee in Good Spirits Champion — Alexandra Hager
• US Cup Tasters Champion — Julien Langevin
• US Roasting Champion — Nick Berardi
• US Latte Art Champion — Piyapat (Flook) Lapteerawut
The Specialty Coffee Expo returns to Portland, Oregon, 21-23 April 2023 at the Oregon Convention Center. Information on Expo 2023 will be available beginning in May 2022.