2021 Specialty Coffee Expo in New Orleans Postponed to Fall

The 2018 SCA Expo in Seattle. Daily Coffee News photo/Lily Kubota.

The Specialty Coffee Association has just announced that the 2021 Specialty Coffee Expo has been postponed to Sept. 30-Oct. 3, 2021, in New Orleans.

The event, which constitutes the coffee industry’s largest annual trade show in the United States, typically takes place in April. A letter signed by SCA CEO Yannis Apostolopoulos and sent to attendees just moments ago said that the consensus among numerous parties involved “was that a postponement to the fall would be a safer, more prudent option, and allow our community and participating businesses more time to recover from the pandemic.”

The postponement of the 2021 Expo in New Orleans follows the cancellation of the 2020 SCA Expo in Portland, Oregon, and the recently cancelled 2020 World of Coffee event in Warsaw, Poland. The latter event is expected to return to Warsaw in 2022, according to the SCA.

Here is the announcement the SCA recently sent to 2021 SCA Expo registered attendees:

Dear Specialty Coffee Expo Attendee,

After much conversation with exhibitors and sponsors, local partners, and the Board of Directors, today the Specialty Coffee Association is announcing that the 2021 Specialty Coffee Expo scheduled to take place in New Orleans in April will be postponed to September 30-October 3, 2021. We’re sure this will be disappointing to many, however the consensus was that a postponement to the fall would be a safer, more prudent option, and allow our community and participating businesses more time to recover from the pandemic.

New dates for the 2021 Specialty Coffee Expo:

• September 30, 2021: NEW! Discover Live and Launch Party (more information on this new feature coming soon)
• October 1-3, 2021: Exhibits, Education, and Competitions

We understand the impact that postponing Expo may have on the businesses of our exhibitors and attendees, and how important it is to find meaningful ways to stay connected and informed with market trends and innovations. To help facilitate those connections, we will be launching a new online platform in the coming months where coffee professionals can easily find and engage with 2020 and 2021 Expo exhibitors. More information on this new platform will be made available to you via email in the coming months. 

Next steps for registered attendees:

• If you were registered as an attendee for Expo 2020 in Portland and did not request a refund: Your registration payments have been applied to Expo 2021 in New Orleans.

• If you cannot attend Expo 2021 in New Orleans in the fall, you may apply your payment to Expo 2022 or another SCA product (i.e. World of Coffee 2021, Membership, Education, SCA Store) or request a refund by emailing Brittney Kushi at [email protected] no later than October 9, 2020.

Next steps on hotel reservations:

• If you have already booked your hotel for New Orleans through the SCA’s hotel reservations portal, your hotel reservation has been automatically canceled. You will receive a Reservation Cancellation Acknowledgement via email in the next two weeks. For questions, please email [email protected].

Thank you for supporting the mission of the SCA and the Specialty Coffee Expo. We at the SCA remain committed to bringing you the best possible event and look forward to seeing you in New Orleans.

Sincerely,

Yannis Apostolopoulos

Chief Executive Officer

Specialty Coffee Association