In fact, apart from a few quiet stalls and some over-expensive opportunists looking to make a killing with hot dogs and the like, the event was small but excellent. I sampled a few good coffees, some cake and a little ice cream.
Most memorable for me was the advice I got from the Illy stand when I enquired about where to buy those cute, branded cups, but I won’t embarrass them by divulging too much (you’ll have to tickle it out of me). And, as usual, the Illy coffee was magnificent.
The Lavazza demonstration of its A Modo Mio coffee machines for the home was less magnificent (as I think my Tassimo is great and would never part with it), yet I applaud the design initiative of the A Modo Mio and the reasonable price point.
Still on instant coffee, I met Ximena Shelton of Shelton’s Coffee, who showed me a product that was launched last September: Gourmet Coffee Cubes. These are compacted, soluble cubes of coffee available in several flavours, and because they’re individually wrapped, they could prove handy for lunchboxes.
Yet, what a shame the UK’s Costa Coffee didn’t exhibit.
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Shaun Weston is editor of FoodBev.com
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