Early bird tickets for Let’s Talk Relationship Coffee to end this week

Sustainable Harvest will unite roasters, growers, and the rest of the supply chain when Let’s Talk Relationship Coffee comes to the Melbourne International Coffee Expo, (MICE2015) 13 – 14 March. Anyone interested in attending can purchase tickets now with an early bird saving of $300 before 1 February. The US based coffee importers have chosen Melbourne as the host city for their one-of-a-kind conference providing insight into innovations in the coffee industry, from around the world. Launched in 2003 as a way to transparently connect the supply chain, the event has been held in a different origin country for the past 12 years. This year the event is coming to a primarily consuming country for the first time with the Australian incarnation taking place 12 ¬– 14 March in conjunction with MICE2015. Sustainable Harvest says it chose Melbourne as the setting because of Australian roasters' interest in learning about the company's Relationship Coffee Model of sourcing. “We know that there is strong interest among the specialty-coffee community in Australia to get to know coffee growers, both to form business relationships with them but also to understand the steps they’re taking at the farm level to make their coffee so exceptional,” says David Griswold, Sustainable Harvest's Founder. “So when we thought about taking Let’s Talk Relationship Coffee to a different market, Australia was the obvious choice.” The theme of Let's Talk Relationship Coffee in Australia is “An Origin Experience,” and more than 20 coffee producers will be in attendance to give their special story and perspective.     Some of the key sessions include a Let’s Talk Milk panel, which will unite milk experts and roasters to talk about issues surrounding milk, an ever-important ingredient in Australia’s espresso-and-milk-heavy café culture. There will be a session about the volatile coffee market, including how weather in Brazil and the Australian dollar has affected coffee purchasing for Australian roasters. Speakers will take an in-depth look at the famed Geisha varietal that has set record coffee prices. A panel featuring growers and roasters will then address the topic. The Let’s Talk Storytelling session will bring together roasters and media partners to describe effective use of social media to communicate coffee’s story. There will be several sessions with farmers presenting about their lives on the farm, their keys to growing MVP-caliber coffee, and key innovations they’ve made to stay on the forefront of the coffee-producing world. Roasters and other stakeholders will have the chance to try amazing coffees in tasting sessions with the producer in the room to answer questions. For more information or to register visit the website: www.letstalkrelationshipcoffee.com