NOLA Coffee Festival Celebrates the Gulf South’s Coffee Industry

by

Editorial Policy

Published on

The NOLA Coffee Festival, scheduled for September 15-16, 2023, aims to unite coffee industry professionals and enthusiasts in New Orleans for a two-day event. The festival will blend industry trade show classes with a consumer coffee festival atmosphere, focusing on education and collaboration within the coffee sector.

Why It Matters: The NOLA Coffee Festival aims to recreate the excitement and community of other coffee industry trade shows—typically hosted in major metros and coastal cities—for professionals and enthusiasts in the Gulf South region of the United States. 

Event Co-founder Jim Currie explains in a press release: “Of the 3,500 coffee shops located in LA, MS and AL, very, very few have ever attended a national coffee conference or training event. We want to flip that around and make great coffee education easily accessible for the thousands of baristas, coffee shop owners/managers and green coffee roasters that work in the gulf south.”

The Full Extraction: The show will feature southern coffee subject matter experts who will share insights, conduct demonstrations, and engage in panel discussions. Speakers and demonstrators will include, among others:

  • Andrea Allen, Onyx Coffee Lab, will lead a class on competing in competitions as a barista
  • Chris Kornman, Royal Coffee, will teach a class on the coffee flavor wheel
  • Rhiannon Enlil, a local cocktail expert, will discuss coffee cocktail innovation and trends
  • Melissa Dixon, La Marzocco, will conduct a session on espresso flavor and brewing
  • Lauren Fink, Cherry Coffee Roasters, will guide a roundtable on roasting businesses

What’s More: The event will be divided into two days: an Industry and Trade Day and a Consumer Day. Patrons will be able to engage with over 50 exhibitors, innovative Gulf South roasters, and coffee connoisseurs nationwide. The Trade and Industry Day will highlight the latest coffee trends, equipment, and brewing techniques; the Consumer Day will allow attendees to connect directly with consumers eager to dive into the world of coffee.

New Orleans is a coffee shipping and roasting hub and natural home for the regional event. The city acts as the headquarters of both dozens of independent coffee businesses and industry giants like Smucker’s, Community Coffee, and PJs Coffee.

You can buy tickets now starting at $15 and learn more about the event at the NOLA Coffee Festival website.

Share This Article
garrett oden fresh cup

Garrett Oden

Garrett Oden is the owner of Fresh Cup, a coffee industry publication for professionals, and Alimentous Studio, a content and copywriting agency for coffee, F&B, and food tech businesses.

Join 7,000+ coffee pros and get top stories, deals, and other industry goodies in your inbox each week.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.


Other Articles You May Like

Coffee News Club: Week of November 18th

Click to find out what’s got the kids going crazy for Starbucks in Australia. That and more — here’s the news for the week of November 18th.
by Fionn Pooler | November 18, 2024

Coffee News Club: Week of November 11th

Sharpies, new cupping tools, and turns out supporting your union makes you popular. That and more: here’s the news for the week of November 11th.
by Fionn Pooler | November 11, 2024

Coffee News Club: Week of November 4th

Click to see why olive oil is getting booted off the Starbucks menu — that and all the other coffee news for the week of November 4th.
by Fionn Pooler | November 4, 2024

Coffee News Club: Week of October 28th

Read for the latest in conflicting coffee and health news. That and more — here’s the news for the week of October 28th.
by Fionn Pooler | October 28, 2024