The coffee bar sector looks to be benefitting from the remarkable amount of interest shown by the general public in tea and coffee events over the first half of this year.  The attendance numbers are high – the Bath Coffee Festival drew 10,115 consumers over a weekend, the Allegra London Coffee Festival has published a consumer attendance figure of 7,500, and the Tea and Coffee Festival at London’s South Bank has given no formal attendance figure, but has spoken of ‘over thirty thousand.’

These shows do a lot to promote the independent coffee-house sector, said Linda Donaldson, organiser of the Bath event: “the coffee festival develops public interest in the broader aspects of coffee and makes the whole subject of coffee more fascinating. The independents benefit from the wider public appreciation of quality coffee and increased enthusiasm to buy coffee outside of the chains.” Yael Rose, organiser of the South Bank event, has already canvassed the beverage trade over likely dates for her next events – she is considering 18-20th November this year, and either 9-11th March or 27-29th April 2012.

Meanwhile the Caffè Culture Show, the UK’s leading trade event for the café bar industry, reported an attendance of 4,433 over two days, and also received the Exhibition News ‘best trade show’ award for last year’s event, when it hosted the world barista championship.

While complimenting the performance of the consumer events, Caffè Culture has confirmed that it will remain a trade-only event, as the beverage industry’s main face-to-face networking opportunity.