The largest coffee trade show in Asia brewed a buzz in Tokyo, Japan, drawing more than 450 exhibitors and thousands of buyers eager to sip, sniff and test the newest gear across the bean-to-cup chain.
This edition of the Specialty Coffee Association of Japan (SCAJ) Conference, lasting from Sept 24 to 27, showcased the entire coffee supply chain, from planting and roasting to consumption, and featured a variety of new equipment.
Among these innovations, an AI-powered green coffee bean sorting machine attracted considerable attention from buyer. The machine can quickly identify and remove beans with dark, damaged, or insect-infested defects.
"This machine can sort five to six kilograms of green coffee beans in an hour. Sorting by eye, one by one, would take much longer than that," said Michinori Abe, Japanese coffee device developer.
Beans from China's Yunnan Province caught much attention at the exhibition. Roasters said the region's high-altitude lots deliver a sweeter, more floral profile than classic Latin-American or African lines, giving Japanese cafes a new origin story to market.
"The first year we brought in Yunnan beans, many people came to buy them. Currently the orders become regular, rolling in season after season," said Machi Kodama, Japanese merchant of Chinese Yunnan coffee bean.
However, the enthusiasm to coffee has been colliding with a bitter reality. Consumers feel the pinch everywhere -- from coffee shops to convenience-store counters, due to the rising prices of coffee beans.
"I've noticed a significant price increase at the coffee shop that I often go to, which is quite frustrating. Convenience store coffee prices have also gone up by about 30 yen (about 0.20 U.S. dollars). I feel a little bit sad when I spend more money on it," said a Tokyo resident.
Some small coffee shop operators in Japan have purchased coffee-bean roasting machines to cut costs, and tried to improve extraction technology, hoping to retain customers with a better flavor experience.
"We bumped the price of our coffee by 100 yen per cup, but paired it with better beans and a cleaner brew. We hope that a tastier cup of coffee earns that second order and keeps the consumers satisfied," said Naoya Nishiyama, a coffee shop owner.
AI technology meets coffee beans at Tokyo coffee trade show
AI technology meets coffee beans at Tokyo coffee trade show
