The Producer & Roaster Forum team is excited to announce the return of the world’s largest coffee producer-focused event in 2022, and expects the largest attendance to date.
After a two-year break from physical events, Producer & Roaster Forum (PRF) will be taking place later this year in Medellín, Colombia.
Following the success of previous events in El Salvador, Brazil, and Guatemala, as well as Virtual PRF in 2021, PRF 2022 will be hosted as an in-person event over the course of several days.
Each year, the location for Producer & Roaster Forum changes. Every year, a coffee-producing country is chosen, putting a focus on the producers, farmers, baristas, and other coffee professionals who work there.
In a recent interview with Perfect Daily Grind, PRF director Julio Guevara said it was vital to host the event in a producing country, as doing so helps to promote collaboration across the coffee sector.
“Groundbreaking events at origin have always been lacking in the coffee industry,” Julio said. “We need to take the conversation to a platform where it has more impact – a coffee-producing country.”
Colombia is the third largest coffee-producing country in the world (by volume), and is home to more than 500,000 coffee producers. By bringing Producer & Roaster Forum to the country, we will be able to facilitate communication, education, and collaboration between visiting roasters and local growers.
“[Producer & Roaster] Forum seeks to provide a voice to those who grow coffee, and to shift the narrative and focus towards their work,” he says.
“We want to drive meaningful and valuable discussion between the different links of the coffee supply chain, with producers as the primary voice at the table.”
The aim for PRF 2022 is to drive green coffee sales for the Colombian coffee sector. Virtual PRF in Honduras (2021) facilitated more than US $10 million in coffee sales between more than 2,000 attendees from more than 30 countries.
With more than 5,000 attendees from over 50 countries expected to attend PRF 2022, this number is set to grow even further.
The 2022 edition of Producer & Roaster Forum will consist of two parts: a PRF Origin Trip Experience across Colombia, and an in-person forum in Medellín. The PRF Origin Trip Experience will take place over three days and provide visiting roasters a unique opportunity to travel throughout the country. Roasters will be placed in groups of 20 to stay with local hosts on farms across Colombia’s scenic coffee-producing regions.
Over these three days, roasters will be able to meet farmers, visit wet and dry mills, and take part in harvesting, processing, cupping, and roundtable discussions with producers.
“It’s important that we not only bring roasters to Colombia to learn from and collaborate with producing communities, but that they’re able to experience their work first hand,” says Julio.
“The events of the last two years have prevented many roasters from visiting producing countries. With the PRF Origin Trip Experience, we’re looking to reconnect roasters to the countries that grow the coffees they love so much.”
After the PRF Origin Trip Experience, the two-day in-person forum will be held in the heart of Medellín.
It will host an extensive programme of educational workshops, lectures, panel discussions, cuppings, presentations from industry leaders, and networking opportunities for roasters, producers and other members of the global coffee community.
“We’re looking forward to welcoming a range of coffee professionals, experts and enthusiasts to one of the most important producing countries in the world,” says Julio.
“We’re especially excited to hear from producers, farmers and leading experts from the Colombian coffee sector, and to share their knowledge and experience with the world.”
Dates for Producer & Roaster Forum 2022 will be announced in the coming days. To learn more about partnership opportunities, the PRF Origin Trip Experience or the events throughout the forum, visit the PRF website.