Thursday, July 17, 2008

Coffee Kids in Copenhagen

From June 16-23, 2008, I attended the Specialty Coffee Association of Europe’s (SCAE) “Wonderful Coffee” Conference and Expo in Copenhagen, Denmark. Joining me were Executive Director Carolyn Fairman and Board President Rob Stephen.

During the event SCAE members and friends came together for workshops, trainings, the World Barista Championship and a trade show with several hundred exhibitors. Given the growing number of European supporters and heightened interest in Coffee Kids’ work, we decided to attend the event thanks to gracious support from the SCAE.

Mick Wheeler and Jens Henrik Thomsen of the SCAE went out of their way to welcome Coffee Kids, and even organized an event-wide fundraiser, whereby proceeds from all the bottled water sold at the event benefited Coffee Kids. Large posters all around the venue publicized the fundraiser and did much to increase Coffee Kids’ visibility. Several other businesses also did on-site fundraisers for Coffee Kids.

Baresso Coffee of Denmark organized a coffee-tasting contest with $2 donated to Coffee Kids for every correct answer. Beyond the Bean from the U.K. donated half of the proceeds from their smoothie sales to Coffee Kids.

It was wonderful to meet so many new people, including business owners from all over Europe and Scandinavia, who wanted to learn more about Coffee Kids. Many of them had heard about the organization, but didn’t know the scope of our work.

I experienced great enthusiasm and interest from both small and large coffee businesses, from the corner café and large-scale roasters to espresso machine manufacturers. We look forward to increasing our presence in Europe and would like to thank all of our supporters and friends for the wonderful welcome!