On 27 & 28 March 2025, Producer & Roaster Discussion board (PRF) will host its greatest version but on the Copantl Lodge & Conference Centre in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. 

The occasion, marking PRF’s tenth anniversary, will carry worldwide roasters, merchants, producers, baristas, and {industry} specialists collectively to share their information – bolstering the expansion of the worldwide espresso sector.

During the last decade, the two-day discussion board has set a precedent for the format of industry-leading occasions, creating an area for producers and roasters to attach and construct long-lasting working relationships.

As with every version, the success of PRF wouldn’t be potential with out its specifically curated line-up of audio system and panellists providing their perception and experience about among the {industry}’s most urgent subjects.

Along with lectures, panels, workshops, and cuppings, PRF Honduras may also embrace the fourth World Roasting Contest, the sixth Chilly Brew Espresso Championship, the second Cacao Masters Cup, the third World Espresso Awards, the second PRF Seed scholarship initiative, and an all-new Producer-Roaster Matchmaking programme.

Learn on to study extra about who will converse on the occasion and how one can attend.

Study extra about PRF right here.

Gearing as much as rejoice PRF’s greatest occasion to date

Yearly for near a decade, PRF has hosted among the most groundbreaking occasions within the espresso sector. Going down in a famend producing nation in Latin America, every version gathers collectively the {industry}’s prime producers, roasters, merchants, baristas, and researchers to change concepts, drive innovation, and deal with among the international espresso sector’s greatest challenges.

Along with the two-day boards held in main cities in Central and South America, the first-ever PRF: Farm Summit happened on 17 & 18 October 2024 fully on the award-winning Colombian espresso farm Hacienda Cafetera La Pradera. A complete of 1,387 attendees – together with 404 farmers and 96 roasters – took half within the one-of-a-kind occasion, which targeted particularly on regenerative and natural farming.

Farm Summit additionally hosted the fifth Chilly Brew Espresso Championship and the inaugural Cacao Masters and Soil of Excellence contests, bringing progressive competitions to a espresso farm.

The 2-day boards will proceed to function springboards for future smaller-format occasions. Over 4,000 individuals will attend PRF Honduras, together with greater than 480 espresso consumers, akin to Purity Espresso, Vero Espresso Home, Espresso Americano, Woods Roastery, Saltwinds Espresso, and Silverskin Espresso Roasters. 

Greater than 2,000 small producers may also be in attendance, providing roasters a chance to attach with and study from farmers firsthand. 

Henry Wilson is the founding father of PRF. “Following our final ten years of success, we needed to organise an occasion that celebrates the progress we’ve made in reshaping the espresso {industry},” he says. “Honduras would be the biggest-ever version to date, including extra worth to the attendee expertise and setting PRF up for extra accomplishments sooner or later.”

Why will Honduras host the tenth version of PRF?

Based on the newest USDA figures, Honduras will produce 5.5 million 60kg baggage in 2023/24, establishing its place as certainly one of Latin America’s main specialty espresso growers. This, nevertheless, represents a 24% lower from the earlier yr, as incidences of espresso leaf rust, an ongoing labour scarcity, and falling home market costs have posed challenges for producers.

An estimated 95% of the nation’s espresso is grown by smallholders, making PRF Honduras, the organiser’s third occasion in 18 months, a priceless alternative for roasters to study straight from these farmers who develop high-quality varieties like Bourbon and Catuai. 

The occasion is projected to generate US $14.5 million for the native economic system, supporting the nation’s producers and securing a sustainable future for its espresso sector, particularly because it grapples with boundaries to development.

“We hosted a digital discussion board targeted on Honduras in 2021, however we’re now thrilled to organise an in-person discussion board that can supply much more worth to producers and roasters,” Henry says. “Attendees have lengthy requested for us to return to Honduras, so we’re completely satisfied to fulfil their requests lastly.”

Asserting the speaker line-up for PRF Honduras

Each occasion features a tailor-made PRF Voices programme, specifically curated for producers and roasters to achieve invaluable perception and information concerning the wider espresso provide chain.

Over the previous decade, audio system have included espresso professionals from 36 nations, representing each mature and rising specialty espresso markets. These embrace the US, Australia, Colombia, Japan, El Salvador, Honduras, the UK, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, China, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Chile, Peru, Germany, the United Arab Emirates, Greece, Serbia, and extra.

PRF Honduras will embrace a broad vary of English and Spanish {industry} specialists talking on a variety of subjects, akin to:

• The Baltics Espresso Market: Consumption Developments and Pricing Insights (Darius Vezelis – Vero Espresso Home, Lithuania)
• Fluctuating Pricing and Shifting Sourcing Methods: An Importer’s Perspective (Abraham Castro – Ally Espresso, US)
• Inexperienced Shopping for Practices and Put up-Harvest Processing for the GCC Specialty Espresso Market (Raja Muthusamy, IFFCO, and Karthikeyan Rajendran, Three Espresso – UAE)
• Understanding Inexperienced Espresso Logistics: Overcoming Challenges and Constructing an Environment friendly Provide Chain (Afshin Roshanian – Artisan Espresso Gear, Romania)
• The Science of Roasting for Practical Advantages (Ildi Revi – Purity Espresso)
• From Farm to Cup: Leveraging Social Media to Construct Producer-Roaster Relationships (Elton Guillen – Emense Espresso, Nicaragua)
• GIS: Geolocation, Registration, and Documentation of Espresso Farms (Valeria Campos, Geotecnologías SA Costa Rica, and Cinthia Rivera, Geotecnologías SA Honduras)
• Leveraging Computational Simulation to Optimise Espresso Drying, Storage, and Roasting (Jaime Daniel Bustos – Universidad Surcolombiana, Colombia)
• Enhancing Espresso High quality and Quantity: Adopting New Brazilian Manufacturing Strategies in Honduras (Joaquim Brando – Pinhalense, Brazil)
• Understanding the Southeastern European Market: Market Intelligence & Key Insights (Zoran Stanojevic – Kafeterija, Serbia)

Panels

Main figures within the international espresso {industry} may also be part of panels at PRF Honduras, together with:

• Progressive Composting Methods for Espresso Producers (Bob Fish, Michelle Fish, and Biggby producers – OBIIS, US)
• Multi-Generational Household Companies: Alternatives and Challenges from Producers and Roasters
  • Ian Metal – Atkinsons, UK
  • Rebeca Paz – Orgánico del Lago, Honduras
• Wonderful Cacao to Wonderful Chocolate: Understanding the Bean-to-Bar Course of
  • Anastasia Zummar – Zucoleto, Honduras
  • Hector Aguilar – Fundación Hondureñas de Investigación Agrícola, Honduras
  • Ricardo España – Cadelga, Honduras
• Creating Inclusive Gender Insurance policies for the Espresso Sector: Key Issues
  • Sofia Nuñez – Funda AHPROCAFE, Honduras
  • Gabriela Osorio – AMUCAFE, Honduras
  • Karen Pavon – Corus Worldwide, Honduras

What else is going on?

Along with PRF Voices, the occasion may also host cuppings led by a few of Latin America’s finest producers and exporters. Attendees can have the possibility to style among the area’s most interesting coffees.

This yr, workshops at PRF Honduras will probably be led by Zamorano College (Pan-American Agricultural Faculty), certainly one of Latin America’s most prestigious main universities, which gives undergraduate and postgraduate programs in espresso manufacturing and advertising. All workshop attendees will obtain a certificates issued by Zamorano to recognise their participation formally.

Competitions on the occasion will embrace:

• The fourth World Espresso Roasting Contest, which assesses pure roasting expertise, together with each a technical and a individuals’s selection winner
• The sixth Chilly Brew Espresso Championship, the place rivals must create two chilly brew-based drinks and a designer drink to showcase their creativity and aptitude
• The second Cacao Masters Cup, which demonstrates the deep connection between espresso and cacao
  • PRF Honduras may also characteristic a Wonderful Cacao Zone for producers and roasters to style specialty-grade cacao

After its profitable debut at PRF Guatemala in March 2024, PRF Seed will return in 2025. This scheme recognises pushed entrepreneurs within the espresso {industry} and empowers them by funding priceless community-focused initiatives. This version of the programme is open solely to volunteers, offering them with a priceless platform to share their concepts and accomplishments.

The occasion may also host the third version of the World Espresso Awards, which rejoice key innovators and leaders throughout the {industry}. 

Lastly, there will probably be an Espresso, a Brew, and a Chilly Brew Bar for attendees to strive distinctive coffees from Honduras and past.

Introducing Producer-Roaster Matchmaking

With a rising variety of actions going down at occasions, discovering the time to attach with different attendees may be difficult. Networking, nevertheless, stays an important and crucial a part of {industry} occasions if guests wish to obtain as a lot worth as potential.

To facilitate these connections, PRF will launch the Producer-Roaster Matchmaking programme, an initiative designed particularly for espresso producers and roasters to attach, on the occasion in Honduras.

The programme will supply one-to-one networking alternatives, permitting roasters and producers to bypass intermediaries and interact extra intently with each other.

To rejoice its tenth anniversary, PRF will host a significant occasion in San Pedro Sula, Honduras on 27 & 28 March 2025, highlighting its decade-long affect on the worldwide espresso {industry}. PRF facilitates a rising variety of connections amongst espresso professionals worldwide, and this yr’s version will solely help this additional.

Worldwide tickets can be found right here. You may also buy Sourcing Journey Expertise tickets at this hyperlink.

Check out lectures from earlier PRF occasions right here.

Picture credit: Producer & Roaster Discussion board

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