Canada Coffee Association holds inaugural annual meeting.

The Coffee Association of Canada held its Inaugural Annual Meeting on June 1 and 2 in Markham, Ontario just north of Toronto. The meeting was attended by almost 100 representatives of the international coffee industry, with representatives from producing countries, the United States and Canada

A wide range of high quality speakers addressed the meeting. Topics covered included consumption trends, key challenges facing producing countries and a fascinating discussion by leading industry executives on the future of the Canadian market.

Mike MacNamara of ISL International Surveys Ltd reviewed trends in Canadian beverage consumption. Declining youth consumption and increasing challenges from cold beverages, particularly water, remain the primary challenges facing the industry. New formats, including membership club stores, are also changing the rules of the retail segment of the market. The impact of cross border shopping continues to grow, especially in border cities such as Vancouver.

Major societal shifts, such as the aging baby boom generation moving into prime coffee consumption years, and the increase in smaller households, were highlighted as important challenges to the coffee industry.

MacNamara also stressed that the changing nature of dining out patterns are having a significant affect on patterns of coffee consumption. Not only are people eating out less often, they are also changing where they are spending their foodservice dollar. In particular, the white table cloth dining" has been declining and "dashboard dining" has increased. These two independent trends have impacted the foodservice business by reducing "second cup" opportunities and signalling the shifting role and importance of breakfast as an eating occasion.

Representatives of Costa Rica, Colombia and Brazil discussed key issues facing producing countries, in light of declining prices for green coffee. The issue is straight forward. As prices continue to drop, quality will suffer, at least in the short term, and production will be limited. Complicating this situation is unprecedented levels of inventories, which by some estimates, are currently over 80 million bags. This is over a year's supply of green coffee for the global market.

Despite these obstacles, efforts are underway by producing countries to increase the value of coffee sales. Programs aimed at increasing the quality, image and value of export sales are being developed to help promote the sale of their country's coffee. The speakers were also united in their call for a renewed International Coffee Agreement to bring stability and equity to the global coffee trade.

Senior executives from speciality retailer, supermarket, and a major Canadian roaster segments discussed their views on the key challenges and opportunities facing the industry. The key challenge for all grocery items is to ensure that the product provides an acceptable level of return to retailers. If coffee brands cannot "pay their way", they will be under increasing pressure to maintain shelf space.

The speakers highlighted opportunities for coffee. The growth of speciality retailers, particularly in higher value products and locations targeted to youth markets, offers significant opportunities for the industry. With specific reference to the specialty market, continued emphasis must be placed on ensuring quality products are presented to consumers. As well, coffee consumers are interest in learning more about coffee. These shift, combined with new product innovations, are the paths to future success.

The meeting offered the Association members and guests a unique insight into the challenges facing the Canadian industry. The Association will be reviewing the challenges presented by the speakers and assessing how they will impact on our future priorities and activities. Plans are currently underway for the 1993 meeting, scheduled for June 7-8, at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Markham.