Emirati
Duo Join More Than 40 Regional Baristas at Speciality Coffee
Challenge
350%
Year-on-Year Increase in Coffee Companies at Speciality Food Festival
Speciality
Food Festival to Stage Prestigious White Truffle Auction
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
A pair of budding Emirati
coffee baristas will confidently shoulder the hopes of an expectant
nation at the inaugural Speciality Coffee Challenge – an elite new
coffee-making championship being held on the fringes of next week’s
Speciality Food Festival at Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC).
Fully accredited by the
Speciality Coffee Association of Europe (SCAE), the Speciality Coffee
Challenge will see more than 40 baristas from across the UAE and GCC
go head-to-head in a series of skill-based brewing, pouring and
creativity competitions. Among the contenders are UAE hopefuls, Amna
Alharmoodi and Osama Balshalat.
Having seen her passion for
coffee flourish after enrolling in local barista training schemes,
Alharmoodi, a security department professional in the
telecommunication sector, is eager to impress.
“As an extension to the wider
coffee culture, coffee tasting is an integral part of Emirati life,”
she said. “Having grown up in the UAE, it is not surprising that
more and more cafes keep popping up in the city – the demand is
strong. I have a dream of crafting my own flavoured blend of coffee
and perhaps, one day, even owning a coffee shop – maybe that
journey will take its next step at the Speciality Coffee Challenge.”
To triumph, Alharmoudi will
have to negotiate tough competition from some of the region’s
leading baristas – including her compatriot, Balshalat, a
maintenance engineer in a subsidiary of ENOC Refinery.
“I have loved coffee since
childhood,” he said. “I entered the field professionally three
years ago and I’m always searching for knowledge relevant to
coffee-making and the process of roasting. I’ve been experimenting
and developing my own signature blend of coffee; hopefully my
creativity will impress the judges and I can go on to represent the
UAE in the global coffee-making industry.”
With research by Euromonitor
predicting the domestic coffee market will be worth AED409 million
(US$112 million) by 2017, growing international interest in the UAE’s
burgeoning café culture is evident in a 350% increase in
coffee-specific exhibitors at this year’s Speciality Food Festival,
the Middle East’s only gourmet and fine food exhibition.
“It is abundantly clear that
local and international coffee chains understand the revenue
potential of the UAE market. As a result, global brands are
constantly exploring opportunities to gain or increase their foothold
in the market,” said Trixie LohMirmand, Senior Vice-President,
Exhibitions & Events Management, DWTC. “As an alternative to
dining out, coffee shops are perceived as casual venues for
socialising among most of Dubai’s multinational resident
demographics and the Speciality Food Festival gives new and
established brands a chance to meet local distributors, wholesalers
and franchisers in a dedicated industry setting.”
First International White
Truffle Auction
Elsewhere
at the Speciality Food Festival, a partnership between DWTC and the
Marche Region in Italy will see the first-ever ‘International White
Truffle’ charity auction take place on the show’s opening day (9
November) at 4pm via a Skype feed from the Truffle Fair in
Acqualagna, Italy.
With
hundreds of delicious white truffles - handpicked a day before the
auction – due to go under the hammer, the quantity, sizes and
prices of the truffles will only be determined by the crop. Industry
experts are predicting prices to range between a minimum of €1,300
(AED 6,071) per kilo up to a maximum of €2,500 (AED 11,676) per
kilo.
With
limited seats available, the event will be attended by several
regional ministers from Italy, as well as Dr. Ferdinando
Fiore, the Italian Trade Commissioner to the
UAE. All proceeds will go towards to a newly-formed fund delivering
educational, cultural, agricultural and culinary student exchange
programmes between the Marche Region and the UAE.
Offering even greater
networking and selling opportunities, the Specialty Food Festival
is open from 10am-6pm on November 9-10 and 10am-5pm on November 11.
The show will run adjacent to the Sweets & Snacks Middle East
and SEAFEX, which are the region’s only dedicated sweets and
confectionery foods exhibition and a dedicated seafood trade show for
the food and hospitality industry respectively.
The three niche food shows are
for trade and business professionals only. General public and persons
under the age of 21 will not be permitted entry. Registration is
available at the show upon proof of trade status.
