El Cafe at the Athens Coffee Festival 2024
The Athens Coffee Festival 2024, held from September 28 to 30 at Technopolis in the Municipality of Athens, once again served as a key reference point for the world of specialty coffee. Thousands of visitors, professionals, and coffee enthusiasts gathered in the heart of Athens to discover new varieties, innovations, and equipment, while also participating in seminars, competitions, and presentations by leading figures in the field.
El Cafe, true to its vision of supporting and empowering the coffee community, had a dual and impactful presence at this year’s festival:
As the official green coffee sponsor of the National Roasting Championship, held as part of the festival, El Cafe provided the contestants with selected specialty green beans. These were carefully chosen following rigorous testing in our company’s quality control lab.
With high scores and clear quality profiles, these beans offered the perfect “canvas” for competing roasters to showcase their skills in extracting flavor characteristics through the roasting process.
Our participation in the competition reaffirms our commitment to quality, to promoting professionalism in the field, and to supporting emerging talent in the Greek coffee industry.
At the same time, Penny Skordaki, QC Analyst & Sourcing Specialist at El Cafe, took part in the festival’s official Coffee Talks program, presenting a highly important and timely topic titled “EUDR & Green Coffee: Challenges and Impacts for Importers and Roasters.”
Her presentation focused on the new European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), which is coming into effect and is expected to significantly affect all links in the coffee value chain — from producers to importers, roasters, and final consumers.
Specifically, she analyzed the traceability requirements that EUDR imposes on importers and the importance of documenting the origin of products. She also addressed the implementation challenges of the new legislation and informed attendees about the compliance strategies El Cafe is already following, through long-term partnerships and investment in transparent and sustainable supply chains.
Her talk sparked reflection and dialogue among attending professionals, who are seeking ways to adapt to the upcoming regulatory changes.
El Cafe’s presence at the Athens Coffee Festival 2024 embodied the company’s philosophy: to empower small producers, provide high-quality products to its customers, and support the coffee community through meaningful actions.
Through participation in competitions, active industry engagement, and the supply of quality green coffee, El Cafe continues to lead developments in specialty coffee in Greece and Europe.