Coffee Fest hosts its hometown show this month evoking the season's back to school theme with a refurbished educational program and a bevy of industry partnerships designed to stimulate innovation and industry. The show runs Friday, September 25, through September 27, 2009 at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center.

"The fall is a good time for fresh starts and Coffee Fest is no exception," says Greg Hartlein, Coffee Fest's new CEO. "We are happy to present a wide variety of new educational offerings as well as unveil the Pacific Natural Foods Soy challenge. We will continue to tweak and refine our show to satisfy the needs of coffee professionals looking to make their businesses a profitable and otherwise rewarding experience."

Back to School

Thursday's Executive Summit entitled, "Surviving and Thriving in Coffee Today," presented by the Washington Restaurant Association precedes the three-day show. This full-day intensive event includes roundtable discussions and networking sessions designed to inspire and inform owners, executives and managers within the specialty coffee, tea and related industries. More practical information and applicable advice awaits attendees at the 90 educational sessions offered each morning of the show, from 8am-noon. New instructors and refreshed content has been developed by Coffee Fest managers to reflect the quickly evolving specialty coffee industry.

Competitors Gather Round

The 21^st Latte Art contest brings baristas from around the world to Seattle to best each other in a quest for the best foam-based art. The 40 contestants make their way through a semi-final round that whittles the pool to 10 finalists who compete for a $2,500 first place purse and $1,000 and $500 for second and third place respectively. Baristas can also exercise their competitive muscle at the Pacific Natural Foods Soy Milk Open where baristas and drinkmakers will gather to create a tasty, innovative and creative drink with soy playing the starring role. Winners will earn $500 while second and third place finishers will go home with a package of edibles from Pacific Natural Foods.

Education and competition give way to pure fun at the Tinker's Minute, an old-fashioned take on new products, where exhibitors act like tinkers of old, and get the stage for one minute to hawk their wares. Specialty Coffee Retailer editor Dan Bolton, emcees the lively event held at 11am on Friday, September 25. Attendees can also put their coffee ‘nose' to the test in a challenge presented by Espresso Parts that determines how well coffee professionals and amateurs know their beverage. Sniffing coffee and labeling the different aromas with common scents such as blackberry, smoke, lemon, etc. will test the reaches of participant's palates.

Attendees can register for the show and find out more about Coffee Fest's roster of events by visiting the website at www.coffeefest.com or by calling 800-232-0083.