Track: The Coffee Opportunity

Coffee is no longer just a drink: it is an experience, a brand, and a real business opportunity for the HORECA channel. Discover how to turn it into your competitive advantage.

Coffee is experiencing one of the most relevant moments in its recent history. Popularity, new formats, emerging habits, and a category that is consolidating as a value driver for the HORECA channel. This opening session offers a clear and up-to-date overview of the coffee ecosystem, its value chain, and the strategic role of each stakeholder in the overall success. An essential introduction to understand why coffee is no longer just a beverage, but a real business opportunity.

By AE Café.

The coffee category is evolving at great speed within the OOH channel. New models, hybrid concepts, and proposals are emerging in response to increasingly demanding and better-informed consumers. This session presents the key insights from the Local Heroes Coffee & Bakeries report, focusing on trends, operational complexity, structural challenges, and growth levers. An essential snapshot to understand where today’s opportunities lie and how to capitalize on them from a business perspective.

Real-life cases of operators who have turned coffee into the strategic backbone of their business model. Contemporary, profitable concepts aligned with new customer expectations. This roundtable discussion brings key decisions, practical learnings, and avoidable mistakes to the table, showing how coffee can become a powerful competitive differentiator. Direct inspiration for hoteliers, restaurateurs, and coffee professionals who want this category to move beyond being a mere add-on and become a true driver of success.

The rise of specialty coffee and new consumption habits have opened the door to a new protagonist behind the bar: plant-based beverages. In this tasting session, we will explore how OraSì Barista—developed specifically for coffee professionals—makes it possible to create creamy, balanced drinks that are perfect for latte art while always respecting the coffee’s flavor profile. A solution designed to work equally well in both hot and cold beverages, offering versatility for the modern café. We will also discover the range of OraSì plant-based drinks, made from soy, rice, coconut, oats, hazelnut, and almond, allowing cafés to expand their menus and respond to new consumer preferences.

An experience to discover how plant-based beverages are redefining the contemporary coffee shop.

Tasting by OraSì.

Automation has become a strategic ally: cost savings, consistency in quality, and greater operational efficiency. This keynote explores how technology applied to coffee makes it possible to scale results without losing the experience. A practical perspective on why automation does not dehumanize, but rather frees up time, reduces errors, and improves the overall performance of the business.

Machinery manufacturers share real-world experiences of automation applied to coffee. What works, what doesn’t, and the impact on costs, quality, and daily operations. An honest conversation about investment, return, and smart decisions for businesses seeking efficiency without compromising a high-quality customer experience.

The Coffee & Bakery segment has become one of the most successful, competitive, and profitable business models in the foodservice industry. High frequency, strong demand, and highly refined value propositions have elevated this format into a league of its own, where coffee acts as a strategic category, driving consumption, customer experience, and profitability.

In this session, we bring together leading operators from the sector to unpack what lies behind their success: well-designed business models, clearly defined consumption occasions, a consistent customer experience, and strategic decisions that truly make a difference.

Coffee as a cultural and social element. This experience combines coffee, music, and networking in a dynamic format that shows how coffee brings communities together and creates new consumption rituals. A vibrant closing for the morning that connects business, culture, and professional relationships from a contemporary perspective. Do you want to discover what a Coffee Rave can bring to your hospitality business?

This talk explores the new relationship between a generation of consumers and coffee. We will examine the silent return of the third place, cafés as spaces for connection, pause, and identity, and contrast it with an equally powerful trend: coffee stepping back from the spotlight, becoming an ingredient rather than an experience in itself. From matcha lattes to functional drinks and menus where food takes the lead, younger consumers are redefining what coffee means to them. Together, we will map where these two movements intersect, what they tell us about current consumer behavior, and what they imply for the future of coffee culture in Spain.

Artificial intelligence and data analytics are already transforming coffee management. Consumption forecasting, purchasing optimization, and profitability improvement. This session explores how technology enables more precise and profitable decision-making, anticipates customer needs, and professionalizes the category within the HORECA business.

The premium coffee experience demands that every detail counts. In a multicultural environment, the accompanying product becomes an opportunity to broaden audiences and reinforce identity. With his artisanal approach, Antonio Anaut demonstrates how tradition and inclusivity can elevate the story that begins in the cup

An inspiring keynote exploring successful models in cafés, restaurants, and hotels from other markets. Countries and cultures with an advanced relationship with coffee serve as a reference to identify trends, formats, and replicable approaches. Fresh ideas to anticipate and evolve your business.

Coffee is no longer just stimulation. A new generation of consumers is seeking a balanced experience rather than one that is intense or jittery. This shift is driving the rise of functional coffee, where wellness, ritual, and experience become part of the daily coffee moment.

In this session, Silvia Lukkarinen explores how changing consumer expectations are transforming coffee culture, from the demand for calmer energy to the growing role of storytelling, premiumization, and experiential coffee rituals.

Hospitality operators will discover how functional ingredients such as adaptogenic mushrooms are entering the coffee category, opening new opportunities for menu innovation, differentiation, and higher-margin offerings in cafés, hotels, and foodservice.

A space led by IED Barcelona where the results of a food design project on Generation Z’s relationship with coffee will be presented.
An analysis of environments, formats, and consumption moments to understand how this new audience is already entering bars and cafés.

Link at https://www.ied.edu/courses/barcelona/master/food-design

This talk explores the potential of coffee in contemporary mixology through the preparation and tasting of three cocktails. During the session we will discuss the importance of coffee as an ingredient, its aromatic profile, and how to combine it with other elements to enhance its flavors. The goal is to discover new ways to integrate coffee into cocktails and create drinks suited for afternoon consumption.