There will be another tea and coffee festival for consumers in London this year. Yael Rose, whose event at the South Bank Centre in spring was well received by the beverage trade, will run another event at the same venue in November, and probably follow with a third at the South Bank in March next year.

This year has been notable for coffee-related events aimed directly at the general public – there were four in six weeks around the country in May, and the Bath Coffee Festival alone drew 10,115 consumers over one weekend.

It was generally agreed by exhibitors at all shows that the time is right for consumer events – at one show, Lavazza sold 40 domestic coffee machines in two days, and Taylors of Harrogate sold out of coffee entirely on one day and had to ship supplies down overnight to continue trading.

A spokesperson from Drury Coffee commented that informal consumer events do tend to be a fairly inexpensive way of getting speciality beverages to the general public, and Sea Island coffee, suppliers of rare and exotic coffees, reported that many consumers would try a cup of filter, then go ahead and buy a complete gift set.

The event takes place from Friday 18th to Sunday 20th November 2011, 11am – 8pm daily (6pm on Sunday) at Southbank Centre Square. Admission is free.