The 2024 World Barista Championships takes place next week in Busan, South Korea and South Africa has a horse in the race! Luke Letts (Father Coffee) will be representing Mzansi on the biggest stage and will have to present 4 espressos, 4 milk based beverages and 4 "signature" beverages to the judges all within 15 minutes, in an effort gain a spot in the finals rounds.
Read more about Luke Letts here.
The WBC will be part of inaugural World of Coffee in Asia, hosted by BEXCO on behalf of the SCA. World of Coffee is an annual trade show in Europe and Dubai that promotes global coffee industry development and activations in the specialty coffee community.
Over 280 domestic and international exhibitors will showcase their products, technologies, and services at World of Coffee Busan. The show features a Brew Bar, Roaster Village, Cupping Exchange, and lectures offering a wide range of educational presentations by industry experts. The World Barista Championship (WBC) will return to Korea after seven years, where it was last held at COEX in Seoul. Barista champions representing over 60 Competition Bodies will compete for the title of the world’s best over the four days.
This highly-competitive annual event — one of the seven skill-based World Coffee Championships (WCC) — serves as the culmination of local and regional events around the globe. Competitors demonstrate their expertise in crafting innovative espresso-based drinks across the espresso, milk, and signature beverage courses, with the cutting-edge approaches and tools used on stage having extensive and enduring impacts on the industry.
The Busan WCCs are supported by: Barista Attitude (Qualified Espresso Machine), Momos Coffee (Title Sponsor), Victoria Arduino (Qualified Grinder), BWT water+more (Qualified Water Filtration), Neumann Kaffee Gruppe, MONIN, Scotsman Ice (Gold Sponsors), Brewista (Silver Spnosor), and Puly Caff (Exclusive Cleaning Sponsor).
World of Coffee Busan will also host top-ranking WCC competitors who will offer brewing
demonstrations and coffee tastings at the WCC Experience Bar. The official “barista party”, a beloved post-championship celebration event, is also returning for the occasion.
World of Coffee Busan is projected to generate positive ripple effects not only for the domestic coffee industry but also across various aspects of the Asian coffee industry. It's anticipated to boost economic value through industry-related content production, activate tourism in Busan, and elevate global recognition of 'Coffee City, Busan.'
Exporum has a track record of successfully collaborating with the SCA on events such as the 2017 World Barista Championship and hosts the annual Cafe Show Seoul, making them natural leaders to organize World of Coffee Busan and the 2024 World Barista Championship.
