Creative Coffee Week, held last week in Durban, was without doubt one of the best coffee events we've ever held! Not only were we wowed by the presence and skills of our 5 International guests, but we had the most number of attendees since 2019!
Our goal in taking the Creative Coffee Events platform on the road in 2025 was to try to reach a broader spectrum of the coffee industry, and with the amazing turnout we had in Durban over 30th&31st July 2025, we can officially say that we are well on the way!
We were a little apprehensive that by hosting events in other cities, Durban might struggle with attendance, but we needn't have as coffee professionals turned out to learn and grow together from Durban and beyond.
The theme of this year's Creative Coffee Week Events is “The Bigger Picture” and is represented by the 3 puzzle pieces on the front cover of the Winter 2025 magazine (thanks to Yellow Jacket Coffee Roasters highly talented illustrator Joshua Machelm!) and each event, KZN, CT and JHB, will focus on one of the puzzle piece that make ups the coffee supply Chain.
The first puzzle piece was on display in Durban - the farmer and producer piece - it was on the cups and the tee shirts - and the thrust of the activities and discussions was around Green Coffee and all things related. Funny story…. because each attendee received this specific puzzle piece printed on their Durban tee shirt, I heard two Joburg based ladies saying they would have to fly to CT, just to collect their next puzzle piece tee, before rounding out the whole collection in Joburg! Ah, the power of a great tee!
We kicked things off in the FNB Welcome Centre with some incredible coffees at the Victoria Arduino and Equipment cafe stands, and then cupped a series of delicious coffees supplied by Cup of Excellence Head Judge Steven Vick (some of the best coffees in the world in 2025!) and The Colombian FNC coffees including a geisha and a pink bourbon that blew minds, as well as a series of fantastic profiles from Zuka.
Suitably fuelled up and raring to go, we then started with interviews and discussions with World Coffee in Good Spirits Champion Georgius Odi Teja from So so Good Coffee, Indonesia and award winning farmer David Maguta from Kenya. The takeaways? Investing in quality is paramount whether it's training for competition or in your farming practices. This led into a great discussion on provenance with SA Chef of the Year 2025, Johannes Richter of The Living Room, and also how coffee fits into fine dining.
Next up it was COE Head Judge, Steven Vick, now living permanently in Kenya, who took us through the COE competition and why this is so valuable for farmers and origin countries. Many people in the room, some completely new to coffee, found this talk and the next discussion around Q-grading and the new Coffee Value Assessment qualification, fascinating, as it helps us understand why coffee is valued so differently across the many global markets, as opposed to other crops like basic veg or fruit… coffee is complex and highly specialised!
After a delicious Durban Breyani lunch, things got even more spicy in the conference room - the afternoon session was all about South Africa Coffee Farming, more specifically, how do we grow this sector and make it viable for farmers to invest in. There is no better blueprint than the FNC - the Colombian Coffee Growers Association…who gave a hugely valuable talk on how their company, a company owned and run by the members, support the coffee growers and their families through investment at farm level, processing, logistics, marketing, exporting and even….retailing their own coffee through their own chain of over 600 stores around the world (Juan Veldez, you might know it!)
This dovetailed into a talk by Mvu from Bonakude Farm, a rural village in KZN that is starting to grow coffee alongside their already thriving produce in the community, followed by a fascinating panel discussion with local and international farmers, experts from the sugar industry, and other stakeholders in the SA agricultural scene. It was exciting, and the feeling in the room was: We can do this!
That wrapped up the talks and with optimism and a sense of excitement the delegates went down to cup some more amazing coffees from Green Coffee Supply, Colombian FNC and Cup Of Excellence Thailand winners.
Then it was time to party! And what better way than with a Sundown Showdown Latte art comp, powered by Latte Art Factory, Sanremo and Fiorenzato, which saw 16 baristas go head to head in a roll the dice challenge that also incorporated Red Espresso Matcha and Buttanutt Vanilla Mac milk, while DJ Kim West aka Chad Whitby spun tunes and the crowds enjoyed epic rooftop sundowners!
Day 2 was an early hive of activity at the new Humble Coffee in Windemere Road, which saw a Colombia Cafe pop-up, a Da Vinci Flavour experience and a cupping of 8 SA grown Coffees take place, to the groovy tunes of local DJ Vinyl&Vibes, before the bus departed for the epic annual KZN coffee farm, tour and a lucky few experienced Odi Teja’s fully immersive OMAKAFE experience at the stunning 9th Ave Waterfront.
What an incredible way to end the event…. Words don’t do it justice, but ask anyone who was there and they will tell you the same thing… BEST ONE EVER!
We can't wait for Cape Town and a focus on Roasting and Wholesale!
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