Coffee Magazine, as an Official Media Partner to MICE 2020, has just received word from MICE that the 2020 event is cancelled.
There is still nothing on the WBC website, but a press release is due any moment now with the official announcement.
Our partners at MICE, headed by Simon Coburn, mailed us with this statement this morning:
"It’s become clear with the second lockdown in Melbourne and the restrictions around interstate and international travel that it is unlikely that the Melbourne International Coffee Expo and the World Barista and World Brewers Cup Championships will be able to be held in November.
We’ve held off for as long as possible to give the event every chance of proceeding, however we need to do what’s best for our attendees, exhibitors, partners and competitors in terms of health and safety and also considering the impacts to the hospitality industry right now.
As such we, along with World Coffee Events, have made the disappointing decision to cancel."
WCE announced on it's website last night that "World Coffee Events (WCE) and the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) are announcing the cancellation of the 2020 World Coffee Championship events scheduled to take place in Melbourne and Warsaw, due to the impact of pandemic-related international visa and travel restrictions. "
As we understand it, the implications of this is that the current 2020 National Champions, will compete in 2021 and there will be no Nationals for any of the WCE disciplines at a National or Regional level for 2020.
As it stands, SCASA has been unable to hold any competitions since the Nationals in March and no competitions in the new cycle have been or will be held this year.
