EVENTHAUS - A YEAR IN REVIEW

​As we embark on another busy Autumn season, we took some time this week to reflect on the last year and the events and shows that added up to an exciting and busy year for the Eventhaus team.

TRADE SHOWS
Our exhibition season kicked off with a bang with CATEX 2013.  Organised by Eventhaus on behalf of IFSA, CATEX hosted over 10,000 visitors and 200 exhibitors spanning 12,000 square metres of the RDS Simmonscourt.  The event reflected an air of optimism in the sector “CATEX has been running since 1965, however this year there is a growing sense of confidence in our sector” said Julie Morrissey, Former Chairperson IFSA.

World of Coffee in June 2013 which took place in Nice is now Europe’s largest coffee industry event.  The three-day event which is organised by Eventhaus in association with the Speciality Coffee Association of Europe was packed with: workshops, competitions, the World Roasters Summit, forums and a large scale exhibition.  The range of competitions featured at the event included the New Product of the Show Awards, the SCAE Awards for Excellence, the SCAE Coffee Photography Competition along with various coffee competitions.  A total of 28 National Latte Art Champions, 21 National Coffee in Good Spirits Champions and 35 National Cup Tasting Champions competed in these events. With the World Coffee Roasting Championship taking place for the first time at this year’s World of Coffee, there were 11 National Roasting Champions taking part.

The IHNSA and Bord Bia Plant Fairs Series held in Kilkenny in February & April and in Punchestown this month, were aimed at stimulating trade in the horticulture sector.

CONSUMER EVENTS
There was no shortage of event offerings for Consumers this year either with Bloom hosting a record attendance of 110,000 visitors.  Organised by Bord Bia, the show has now more than doubled in size compared with attendance at the inaugural event in 2007. Bloom continues to grow in popularity and the Eventhaus team, who have been involved with the show since its inception is looking forward to another great event in 2014.

The inaugural Ballymaloe LitFest enchanted guests over the May bank holiday weekend with a programme packed with renowned culinary writers, critics and chefs from across the world.  The event also incorporated the Bord Bia Taste Council Summer School.  This was the 2nd National symposium addressing local, artisanal and speciality foods issues for the future, through education.

CONFERENCES
With a wide range of conferences and seminars such as the CIF conference in November 2012, Seminars for the Irish Foodservice Suppliers Alliance in March and September and the Great Taste Awards (Irish Judging) in April, we were certainly kept busy on the corporate and sector specific side of the business.
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NEW FOR 2014 AND BEYOND…
Our calendar is looking very busy for 2014 which will feature the launch of the first Dublin Coffee & Tea Festival in Sept 2014 – a consumer event aimed at satisfying the needs of our ever growing community of coffee and tea lovers.  This along with the recent appointment of Eventhaus as the event partners for Hardware Association Ireland’s biennial event in February 2015, it seems that our mantra, that the face-to-face interaction only achievable through events is proving true for Irish business!