Espresso occasions have lengthy mirrored wider trade developments. However in 2025, an unprecedented 12 months for specialty espresso with document C costs, this has by no means been extra obvious.

At commerce exhibits like World of Espresso Geneva, Specialty Espresso Expo Houston, London Espresso Competition, MICE, and Producer & Roaster Discussion board, for instance, there have been noticeable shifts. Non-coffee merchandise, equivalent to matcha and plant-based milks, are proliferating, whereas premium house gear is changing into a extra distinguished fixture.

Producers are more and more beginning to export their espresso, reshaping commerce dynamics. Roasters, in the meantime, are shifting to smaller, regional-format occasions to handle tighter advertising budgets.

These pivots sign a market in flux, reflecting altering shopper preferences and a brand new period of pricing, and so they’re prone to proceed within the years forward.

Henry Wilson, the founding father of Excellent Every day Grind, PDG Media, and Producer & Roaster Discussion board, shares his perception.

You may additionally like our article on why excessive costs have shifted roasters’ priorities.

Non-coffee merchandise take centre stage

One of many key modifications at espresso occasions this 12 months has been the development in direction of non-coffee drinks and merchandise.

On the 2025 London Espresso Competition (LCF), for instance, matcha, plant milks, useful drink powders, tonic, tea & chai, consuming chocolate, and even nut butters had a considerably bigger presence than at earlier editions.

Practical espresso, particularly, is proliferating. Enhanced with extra substances, these merchandise declare to supply additional advantages, equivalent to improved focus, power, or immune assist.

Adaptogenic mushrooms like lion’s mane, reishi, and chaga are more and more present in RTD lattes. Substances like MCT and collagen are different in style additions, loved by Gen Z for his or her purported well being advantages.

Business occasions, as soon as used completely as platforms for celebrating high-quality espresso, have now diversified their focus. This displays broader market developments as enterprise operators search to include new drinks and substances into their menus to satisfy evolving shopper demand.

“It looks as if cafés have gotten the principle target market at occasions, somewhat than roasters,” says Henry. “There was a particular shift in direction of coffee-adjacent manufacturers at commerce exhibits and festivals within the final 5 or so years.”

The rationale for that is simple. Whereas espresso costs have remained excessive and unstable, café house owners and operators have more and more sought out extra menu choices to diversify their income streams and differentiate themselves from coffee-focused companies.

Latest knowledge helps this pivot. In accordance with Westrock Espresso Firm’s newest report, practically one-third of US espresso drinkers need drinks that ship focused well being advantages, equivalent to useful substances like adaptogens for cognitive enhancement or probiotics for improved intestine well being.

As customers more and more prioritise their well-being, roasters and different manufacturers have responded to shifts in buying behaviour. In recent times, protein-enriched lattes and adaptogen-infused chilly brews have turn into more and more prevalent at each occasions and within the broader espresso trade.

“A rising concentrate on wellness from Gen Z means we’re seeing useful substances, extracts, and extra within the espresso sector,” Henry says. “Practical espresso is an economical power enhance with the added benefit of well being advantages.”

Matcha’s dominance can’t be ignored

By far, probably the most distinguished merchandise at espresso commerce exhibits is now matcha. This 12 months’s LCF featured a number of matcha manufacturers, from artisanal importers to fashionable, slick RTD firms, reflecting the broader diversification of the market.

Originating from Japan and relationship again to the twelfth century, matcha has turn into a world phenomenon in recent times. Manufacturers like Clean Avenue and Chamberlain Espresso are more and more specializing in matcha-based drinks to drive gross sales, providing signature drinks like Cookies & Cream and Blueberry Matchas. In accordance with the Wall Avenue Journal, matcha now accounts for as much as 50% of Clean Avenue’s US gross sales.

“For a enterprise that originally made its mark with high-quality espresso, it is a enormous pivot,” Henry says. “However the demand remains to be enormous. Matcha is especially in style with youthful customers, and very like espresso, it can be utilized as the bottom of a variety of drinks – and consumed nonetheless you prefer it.”

From small specialty espresso retailers to larger chains, it appears nearly all are serving matcha drinks, and it’s paying off for them. Following the launch of its Peaches & Cream Matcha and Matcha Lemonade strains, the UK’s Black Sheep Espresso noticed its gross sales of lemonade and matcha-based drinks soar by a formidable 315%.

“We’re seeing a significant shift in direction of photogenic, non-coffee drinks,” Henry says. “As Gen Z more and more lead developments within the espresso trade, we’ll proceed to see matcha proliferate at occasions and past.”

Different drinks are additionally poised for additional progress at commerce exhibits and within the general trade. Hojicha (a roasted inexperienced tea characterised by its toasty, caramel-like flavours), ube, taro, and pandan lattes are possible the subsequent contenders, tapping into demand for aesthetic, wellness, and experiential drinks.

The exhibitor profile is altering

It was as soon as straightforward to foretell the “established order” of exhibitor halls at espresso trade occasions. Powerhouse gear manufacturers have lengthy dominated the commerce present flooring with the most important, “flashiest” cubicles, however roasters, importers, and different espresso retailers have usually had a powerful presence, too.

Nevertheless, in recent times, the exhibition panorama has undergone a major transformation. At World of Espresso (WoC) Geneva, for example, the Roasters Villages included predominantly inexperienced espresso importers and exporters, highlighting a scarcity of roasters, each small and huge.

Excessive espresso costs have led roasters, particularly, to shift their priorities. Inexperienced espresso prices have greater than doubled over the past two years, leading to tighter money movement. Concurrently, borrowing cash has turn into dearer, which makes it tougher to plan for the long run.

As an alternative of protecting exhibitor, journey, and lodging charges, medium and larger-sized operations must concentrate on securing capital to cowl the prices of inexperienced espresso. 

At this 12 months’s LCF, there have been noticeably fewer roasters exhibiting at their very own stands as properly. Extra had partnered with gear producers to brew and promote espresso at their cubicles. It is a strategic transfer that might assist roasters develop their attain extra cost-effectively. 

“By collaborating with their gear suppliers, lots of whom are prone to have larger budgets for commerce exhibits, roasters can leverage their model energy,” Henry explains. “Moreover, roasters can align themselves with established gear manufacturers, reaffirming their quality-driven branding.”

Tools manufacturers continued to take care of their foothold at espresso occasions this 12 months. House espresso gear producer Breville co-hosted the Melbourne Espresso Competition at MICE2025. The corporate organised an indication stage the place attendees may work together with gear, watch tutorials from trade consultants, and participate in hands-on espresso tastings and experiences.

As a part of the occasion, Beanz, Breville’s espresso subscription service, additionally hosted masterclasses that includes a few of Australia’s pioneering specialty espresso roasters, together with Proud Mary, ST. ALi, and Seven Miles.

This heightened concentrate on gear, notably within the premium house section, displays a broader development in direction of the prosumer class. Producers are more and more capitalising on rising at-home consumption as espresso lovers are prepared to put money into high-performing, visually-appealing espresso machines, grinders, and barista equipment.

Producers are taking a special method

Given that almost all main trade occasions happen in majority-consuming international locations, espresso producers have traditionally had a relatively smaller presence at trade occasions than roasters and merchants. 

Many producers would usually co-exhibit with inexperienced espresso exporters and importers to showcase their tons, permitting them to facilitate transactions and prolong market attain extra simply.

Nevertheless, at latest occasions, most notably WoC Geneva and the Specialty Espresso Expo in Houston, extra producers have begun to market and export espresso themselves, bypassing conventional commerce fashions.

“Excessive and unstable espresso costs have uncovered the vulnerability of conventional inexperienced espresso commerce, and extra producers wish to take management of their very own provide chains,” Henry says. “Main trade occasions are an efficient platform for producers to do that.”

To curiosity attendees, extra farmers are showcasing hyper-fermentations, together with co-ferments and infused coffees, at commerce exhibits. These “showstopping” tons are memorable coffees and dialog starters, serving to producers doubtlessly set up new roaster partnerships that may drive long-term gross sales.

“We’re seeing many extra co-fermented and infused coffees at occasions,” Henry says. “Whereas this may occasionally not precisely characterize the general specialty espresso market, we are going to see extra high-end fermentations accessible in espresso retailers and roasteries over the subsequent few years.

“The classes will begin to diversify, similar to with artificially and naturally infused or co-fermented coffees, and these coffees will discover a extra established house. We’re already seeing this occur in markets like East Asia and the Center East, the place novelty and exclusivity are usually extra prized,” he provides.

Occasions like PRF additionally assist this wider shift in specialty espresso commerce. It’s one of many few trade occasions that locations a transparent concentrate on cultivating producer-buyer relationships and takes place in a coffee-growing nation.

Present options like PRF Seed additionally underscore disruptive entrepreneurship and innovation led by trade professionals in producing international locations, offering monetary assist for community-led initiatives.

With PRF returning to El Salvador on 26 & 27 March 2026, the prevalence and significance of producer-focused occasions are prone to develop.

Smaller regional occasions are on the rise

Business commerce exhibits will all the time be essential “conventional” advertising and branding methods for espresso companies to increase their attain and entice new prospects and wholesale shoppers.

However as specialty espresso faces probably the most turbulent intervals in its latest historical past, priorities have shifted dramatically. The plethora of worth hikes over the previous few years has pressured roasters to allocate extra of their monetary sources in direction of areas that want them most. 

Inexperienced espresso costs reached historic highs in February 2025, prompting enterprise house owners to discover various funding choices. In the meantime, working prices – from labour to lease to packaging – proceed to climb, making money movement administration much more difficult.

Though they should stay related, attending main festivals and occasions has turn into more and more tougher for roasters and different espresso manufacturers. Exhibitor prices proceed to rise, and as commerce exhibits like World of Espresso host an rising variety of occasions worldwide, journey and lodging charges are additionally rising.

“Slightly than focusing totally on bigger festivals and commerce exhibits, extra roasters will pivot in direction of native and regional, smaller-format occasions,” says Henry. “With decrease exhibitor prices making it simpler to succeed in consumers, these occasions may provide roasters extra worth.”

Occasions like COFFeEAST, Iran Worldwide Espresso Competition (often known as Coffeexiran), and Ljubljana Espresso Competition have skilled explosive progress in recent times, as roasters – particularly these in rising markets the place ardour for specialty espresso thrives – leverage these platforms to develop their networks extra strategically.

This 12 months’s Glasgow Espresso Competition, for example, noticed a record-breaking 2,000 attendees, signalling a rising curiosity in smaller-format espresso occasions. 

“Unbiased pop-up occasions can also turn into extra distinguished, as roasters look to have extra management over their branding and operations,” Henry provides. 

Business occasions have all the time mirrored developments within the wider espresso trade. Nevertheless, we’re more and more seeing that the format of commerce exhibits is altering, reflecting a market in flux.

Espresso occasions are altering to mirror the realities of the market – with roasters tightening their belts and extra non-coffee merchandise creeping in. As one continues to affect the opposite, we will anticipate to see extra shifts within the coming years.

Loved this? Then learn our article on whether or not matcha is the brand new espresso.

Photograph credit: Specialty Espresso Affiliation

Excellent Every day Grind

Need to learn extra articles like this? Join our e-newsletter!