PRF Guatemala announces final schedule for 7 & 8 March 2024

The eight edition of Producer and Roaster Forum – one of the few events in the coffee industry that places producers at the very forefront – will return to Guatemala on 7 & 8 March 2024.

This will be the second time that the two-day forum is held at the Anacafé venue in Guatemala City, after the 2019 edition brought together hundreds of roasters and producers.

The 2024 event will be even bigger. Thousands of industry professionals – including producers, traders, roasters, and baristas – are set to attend to network, share their insight, and take part in a number of activities. In addition to PRF Voices, PRF Workshops, and PRF Coffee Cuppings, the event will host three competitions, the second Global Coffee Awards, and will launch the first-ever PRF Seed scholarship programme – distributing a total of US $10,000 to entrepreneurs and community leaders in the coffee industry.

Read on to find out what’s happening at PRF Guatemala in March 2024.

Learn more about PRF Guatemala here.

Why Guatemala?

Every PRF event brings together thousands of international coffee professionals from across the supply chain to a prominent producing Latin American country. On 7 & 8 March 2024, the two-day forum will return to Guatemala.

The country produces some of the most sought-after varieties – including Typica, Caturra, Bourbon, Catuai, Pache, and Maragogype.

Guatemalan Coffees is the Host Country Sponsor for PRF Guatemala, and will hold the event at its headquarters in Guatemala City. The brand is owned by Anacafé – an organisation that represents over half a million people working in the country’s coffee sector.

PRF Voices

On top of a trade show exhibition, at every PRF event, leading industry figures and experts are invited to give speeches and presentations. The PRF Voices speakers programme addresses some of the most pressing and compelling topics in the coffee industry.

Mark Zhou is the founder and CEO of MTPak Coffee – a PRF Gold and Sourcing Trip Experience sponsor.

“We have the same overarching goal as PRF: to generate conversations in the coffee industry and bring awareness to everything from sourcing to packaging,” he says.

International & Latin American speakers

PRF Voices Guatemala will include lectures and speeches in both English and Spanish covering a range of topics. International speakers will include:

PRF Diamond Sponsor Mayorga Coffee leading a Mayorga Becados Roundtable – a scholarship programme which sponsors around 500 smallholder farmers to attend the forum

Bob and Michelle Fish – One BIGG Island in Space, US

Gabriel Restrepo – Ally Coffee

Eric Werner – Valiant Coffee Roasters US

Albert Scalla – StoneX, US

Cleia Junqueira – The Coffee Connoisseur Collective, UAE

James Harper and Jonathan Morris – A History of Coffee podcast, Germany and UK

Konstantinos Vallianos – Kafea Terra, Greece

Afshin Roshanian – Artisan Green Bean, Romania

Bruno Nobre – Cultivo, US

David Paparelli – M-Cultivo, UK

Stephanie Welter – TWICE

Darius Vezeliz – Vero Coffee House, Lithuania

Adam Holliefield – Coffee Support Co., US

Jonathan Moral – Café de Finca, Spain

Antoine Communaudat – BWT water+more, France

Additionally, PRF Guatemala will also host a range of lectures in Spanish from the following speakers:

Eduardo Choza – Mayorga Coffee, US

Ana Lucrecia Glaesel – Anacafé, Guatemala

José Arriola – Banco Industrial, Guatemala

Raúl Rodas – Paradigma Coffee, Guatemala

Aida Esther Peñuela Martínez – Federación de Cafeteros de Colombia-Cenicafé, Colombia

Renaud Cuchet – Efico Central America SA, Guatemala

Joaquim Rogerio – Pinhalense, Brazil

Ashley Prentice – Gento Coffee, Guatemala

Giselle Barrera – Latinas in Coffee, El Salvador

Marcela Pino – Food 4 Farmers, US

Ana María Schmidt, Claudia Abril de Pérez, Max Pérez, and Jorge Escobar Bruno – Montealegre y Co-op La Hermosa, Guatemala & El Salvador

Competitions at PRF Guatemala

Competitions can be some of the most exciting and engaging activities taking place at any coffee event. PRF Guatemala will host the third unique and innovative Global Coffee Roasting Contest, the fourth Cold Brew Coffee Championship, and the all-new French Press Championship.

Global Coffee Roasting Contest

The first Global Coffee Roasting Contest took place at PRF El Salvador in March 2023. The winner was Shaun Aupiais of Red Band Academy from South Africa. At PRF Colombia that same year, the title went to Alejandro Macias of Lusitania Coffee Co. from Colombia.

The championship features a collaborative judging format unlike any other coffee competition. Finalists’ coffees will be served at the Brew Bar for PRF visitors to vote for their favourite and decide on a people’s choice winner. The judges will also announce a technical winner.

Unlike other roasting competitions, the Global Coffee Roasting Contest is inclusive and accessible for local attendees. Lower barriers to entry make competing more democratic – especially for coffee professionals who may not have the resources or means to participate in bigger events – while still testing their expertise, skills, and knowledge.

Nucleus Coffee Tools and I Coffee Solutions are the Official Roasting Sponsors for PRF. Both companies will provide the equipment for the competition, which will take place on 7 & 8 March 2024.

A total of 16 competitors will roast all coffees on day one. These coffees will then be tasted and judged on day two. The competition rules can be found here.

The judges for the Global Coffee Roasting Contest are 2023 UAE Barista Champion Mariam Erin, Guatemalan coffee shop Teco Coffee House, and Director of Coffee at ONA Coffee and coffee competitor Sam Corra.

Cold Brew Coffee Championship

The first edition of the Cold Brew Coffee Championship was held at PRF Colombia in 2022. Mauricio Romero from Colombia was the winner of the first competition. On 7 & 8 March 2024, PRF Guatemala will host the fourth edition – with competitors going head-to-head to prepare two cold brew-based beverages for a panel of judges.

At the edition held at PRF El Salvador, the winners were Juan Aristizabal from Colombia and Julia Dziadevych from Ukraine. Finally, at the most recent championship held in Colombia, the winner was Jean Pierre Acero Cechetti of Fecvelab from Venezuela.

In response to the soaring popularity of the cold coffee market, the Cold Brew Coffee Championship aims to encourage experimentation and elevation of cold coffee beverages. Moreover, the designer drink round encourages competitors to be creative and innovative.

Thanks to the format of the championship, it is also accessible and inclusive for attendees from all across the supply chain – not just experienced coffee competitors and baristas.

Toddy is the Official Cold Brew Sponsor for PRF, and will supply the competition equipment. The competition rules are available here.

French Press Championship

PRF Guatemala will host the first-ever edition of the French Press Championship in partnership with coffee and tea appliances brand Bodum. The company will provide the equipment for the competition and is also the Official Barista Sponsor.

The competitors will have 15 minutes to prepare a minimum of 200ml of brewed coffee using a maximum 35g dose – making the championship another inclusive and accessible brewing event.

The judges – John Moral of Café de Finca, Head of Coffee at Bodum Kristoffer Layton, and Heidy Pineda of Empresa Académica de Catación Las Pinequitas – will blindly evaluate each coffee to decide on their favourite.

On the count of three, all judges will simultaneously point to their preferred coffee – taking a much more informal approach to competitions. The rules are available here.

Global Coffee Awards

On top of three unique competitions, PRF Guatemala will host the second edition of the Global Coffee Awards. This is an awards programme recognising and celebrating key innovators and leaders in the international coffee industry.

This year’s GCA will include five categories:

Best Volunteer & Best Partnership – judged by the PRF team

Best Becado – judged by Mayorga Coffee’s Sourcing and Sustainability manager Sara Velasquez

Best Booth and Best Speaker – judged by Cleia Junqueira, Jonathan Morris, and Ashley Prentice

What else is happening at PRF Guatemala?

On top of PRF Voices and three groundbreaking competitions, the two-day forum will also host PRF Workshops and PRF Coffee Cuppings.

PRF Workshops will take place on the first floor of the Anacafé building. Sessions will be hosted by Escuela de Café Anacafé and their expert team of instructors – including the guidance of Edvin Gonzalez, who has represented Guatemala at various coffee competitions.

Topics covered will include both technical knowledge and practical skills, with a focus on hands-on accessible education for producers.

Each workshop has a limited number of seats depending on the capacity of the room, so attendees will need to register in advance.

PRF Coffee Cuppings will be led by some of Latin America’s finest coffee producers and traders, showcasing the best coffees that the region has to offer. The Official PRF Cupping and Water Sponsor is BWT water+more.

All cuppings will take place on the first floor of the Anacafé building. Attendees will need to register in advance to secure a spot.

The two-day forum also includes an Espresso Bar in partnership with Official Espresso Bar Sponsor I Coffee Solutions and a Brew Bar hosted by Official Brew Bar Sponsor TONE.

PRF Seed

The first edition of PRF Seed will take place at PRF Guatemala. The programme will provide a collective fund of US $10,000 provided by PRF as part of its social commitment programme.

Henry Wilson is the founder of PRF.

“Volunteers and scholarship recipients who attend the two-day forums are a crucial part of PRF events,” he says. “PRF’s volunteer and scholarship programmes allow hundreds of industry professionals to attend world-class exhibitions, experience the coffee sector from different perspectives, and connect with leading experts.

“This is why Producer & Roaster Forum is proud to launch PRF Seed, which recognises and honours leading volunteers and scholarship recipients so that they can take their entrepreneurial spirit to the next level,” he adds.

How will PRF Seed be judged?

Eight selected finalists will have the chance to present their entrepreneurial or community-building ideas at PRF Guatemala. The judging panel will Henry Wilson and Martin Mayorga.

Each presentation will be limited to five minutes and will take place on 7 March 2024. The judges will evaluate all finalists’ presentations. After reviewing and deliberating, the judging panel will determine how to distribute the total seed capital of US $10,000.

Other sponsors of PRF include PRF Gold Sponsor One BIGG Island in Space, PRF Silver Sponsor Banco Industrial, and PRF Bronze Sponsor Ally Coffee.

PRF’s return to Guatemala on 7 & 8 March is set to be one of the biggest events so far. The two-day forum will take place at the Anacafé venue in Guatemala City, Guatemala.

To find out more about tickets for the Sourcing Trip Experience Guatemala, a separate package exclusively designed for roasters which also includes a ticket to the two-day PRF event, you can find more information here. PRF has already confirmed 46 roasters from 21 countries to take part in the STE.

You can stay up to date with all announcements for PRF Guatemala here, or by subscribing to the newsletter here.

Photo credits: Producer Roaster Forum

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The post PRF Guatemala announces final schedule for 7 & 8 March 2024 appeared first on Perfect Daily Grind.