Melbourne, the ideal host city for the 2022 World Barista Championships and World Brewers Cup

Monday, September 26, 2022

The eyes of the coffee world will once again be on Melbourne as it hosts the highly anticipated 2022 World Barista Championships (WBC) and World Brewers Cup (WBrC) as part of the Melbourne International Coffee Expo 2022 (MICE) from 27 – 30 September 2022 at Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, fittingly just ahead of International Coffee Day on 1st October.

With support from the Melbourne Convention Bureau (MCB), for the first time since 2013 and after three years of postponements and cancellation, the WBC, WBrC and MICE 2022 are expected to attract over 14,000 delegates from around the globe and inject more than $15.5 million to the Victorian economy.

MICE is known throughout the world as the largest and most exciting, dedicated coffee event that highlights the craft of filter coffee brewing by hand, promoting manual coffee brewing and service excellence. It has become a haven for baristas to explore trends and for international roasters, manufacturers and traders to showcase their brand to what many argue is a leading coffee market – so it’s rather fitting that Melbourne will host this esteemed event.

MCB Chief Executive Julia Swanson said Melbourne has an enviable reputation for hosting world class business events and is a renowned coffee destination making it the ideal city to host these esteemed events.

“Melbourne is a city of great minds that incubates thinkers, creators, innovators, and producers across multiple sectors including the coffee industry.

“With more than 200 exhibitors at MICE2022, there will be countless opportunities for coffee lovers to try new blends, grab a brew from some of the best roasters in the country and from around the globe, test a wide range of coffee equipment and find the best suppliers that suit their coffee palate.

“Being able to discover where your coffee comes from, meet the farmers that grow popular varietals at Roasters Alley will be a real highlight along with experiencing the craft of filter coffee, manual coffee brewing and service excellence,” Swanson said.

Unofficially dubbed ‘the Olympics of Coffee’, the WBC is the preeminent international coffee competition produced annually by World Coffee Events (WCE). Australia is the first country outside the United States to host the word finals twice, cementing Melbourne as an iconic and respected coffee nation. The WBC competition focuses on promoting excellence in coffee, advancing the barista profession, and engaging a worldwide audience with an annual championship event that serves as the culmination of local and regional events around the globe.

Representing Australia in the WBC is Victoria’s very own, reigning Barista Australian Champion, Anthony Douglas. Open to the public from 29th September, visitors enjoy can support Anthony and watch both thrilling competitions involving involve time-restricted performances by the baristas on a stage in front of judges and a packed audience.

Swanson added, “Our baristas are some of the most accomplished, inventive and technical in the world and now we’ll get to present our sophisticated coffee culture to a global audience.

“It seems with each passing month there’s a new brewing technique, new gadgets or a shift in the idea of what good coffee actually means and these competitions are the ultimate platform to demonstrate this.”

Ahead of any upcoming visit to Melbourne, a list of must-visit cafes should definitely be mapped out. MCB recommends referencing the ‘caffeinated’ section of the Melbourne e-guide as the perfect starting point for planning the important daily caffeine fix while in town. Users can explore the city through the geographic and category searchable interactive map embedded within the guide which importantly includes recommended cafes.

Access to Melbourne’s dedicated and passionate coffee experts isn’t just limited to MICE 2022 or locating one of the popular cafes frequented by locals and visitors alike. The MCB team can support incentive groups in creating a caffeine-fuelled experience that leaves lasting impressions from some of the many coffee roasting, tasting, blending, brewing and filtering masterclasses offered by some of Melbourne’s internationally recognised roasters: St Ali, Proud Mary, and Market Lane.

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