First-ever Philresca B2B Expo scheduled on March 2 to 4
AS THE country continues to flourish as a key market for specialty coffee and other related industries, all is set for the staging of the first sourcing platform dedicated to the restaurant, café, and bar industry, the Philippine Restaurant, Café, and Bar Expo (Philresca) on March 2 to 4 at Hall A, World Trade Center, Metro Manila.
The three-day B2B exhibition is a grand onestop shop event showcasing all facets of coffee, café products, beverages, baking and pastries, specialty food, delicatessen and other allied services and supplies. It aims to advance, match, and connect distributors, manufacturers, and service providers to professionals from the F&B and hospitality industry, HRM, culinary, and tourism schools, and international buyers for them to be able to source their requirements and learn new tricks of the trade during the exhibition.
A trade-exclusive event for the industry’s established and emerging buyers and sellers, Philresca 2017 will also feature a series of educational and competitive events sanctioned by World Coffee Events (WCE), one of which is Re: Verb Manila happening March 1.
The one-day symposium will focus on connecting stories to introduce and expound upon the world of specialty coffee by combining live speakers and media and create conversations among participants. The sessions will be led by globally renowned industry leaders who will impart valuable professional knowledge to practitioners and students.
Among the invited key speakers are top industry experts: Federico Pacas, a well-known and respected Salvadoran coffee producer and director of Coffee at Café Tuxpal and Viva Espresso; Sonja Zweidick, founder of the female coffee community Barista Connect and two-time Austrian National Barista Champion; Michael Cleland, head of Marketing & Business Development of Assembly Coffee in UK; and Matt Graylee, founder of Raw Materials and El Fénix, New Zealand.
As to what makes the upcoming Philresca Expo timely and relevant to the booming specialty coffee industry in the Philippines, Amy Ball, creative director of World Coffee Events (WCE), said that the country is slowly but steadily rising as an important emerging market for the ever-growing coffee community.
“I think it’s the global nature of coffee, to begin with, and the community around that makes it relevant and very interesting. There’s a lot of growing excitement about it in the Philippine market right now and how it is going to evolve and engage with the international coffee community at large. Barista is also a growing profession here as well and it’s very exciting, I’m looking forward to experience more, to see how much it progresses,” she said.
In relation to the concurrent event Re: Verb Manila symposium, Ms. Ball called it a vital launching point for the coffee communities to come together. She added that WCE is very elated in taking part in the endeavor “to bring the world to the Philippines.”
“The intention is to inspire, connect, and talk about various experiences. We aim to generate a feeling of community among Filipinos while still maintaining unique coffee culture and identity. Though the specialty coffee community here is fairly new, the energy is high and the momentum is already there.