World Barista Championship Heading to Seoul in 2017

From the World Coffee Events 2014 All Stars event in Seoul. Photo by Seon-il Ha, courtesy of WCE.

Dublin-based World Coffee Events has announced the 2017 World Barista Championship will be held at the Seoul International Cafe Show at the Coex Convention & Exhibition Center.

It will be the first time the event has been held in Asia in 10 years, since England’s James Hoffmann won the 2007 title in Tokyo, and it is the 15-year-old event’s first appearance in South Korea.

The world championship will be held relatively late in the year, from Nov. 9-12, in coordination with the Seoul International Cafe Show, which attracts some 600 companies from approximately 32 countries per year, according to the show organizers Exporum. The Specialty Coffee Association of Korea and Exporum will jointly manage the show, WCE said in announcement yesterday.

The 2016 World Barista Championship is scheduled to take place in coordination with the Speciality Coffee Association of Europe’s World of Coffee event in Dublin, while the 2015 World Barista Championship recently concluded in Seattle, with Australian Sasa Sestic taking the title. 

The event has seen steady growth in recent years, as more countries are presenting national champion baristas. As of last week, 57 countries had sanctioned national bodies, and the 2015 championship included 49 baristas.