Coffee Board, SCAI to host India International Coffee Festival in Bengaluru from Feb 26
The third India International Coffee Festival will bring growers, roasters, café brands and equipment makers to Bengaluru, with participation expected from over 50 countries and the 26th National Barista Championship.
What happened
The Coffee Board of India and SCAI will host IICF 2027 in Bengaluru, bringing growers, roasters, cafe brands and equipment makers together as India’s specialty
Key facts
- Third edition
- IICF 2027
- Over 50 countries
- 26th National Barista Championship
Why this matters
The festival creates a high-density sourcing venue for identifying partnership, distribution and acquisition targets among emerging roasters, café concepts and coffee-tech suppliers.
What to watch
- Number and quality of international buyers, distributors and equipment brands formally participating.
- Announced direct-trade agreements, export contracts, distribution partnerships or franchise deals following the event.
- New specialty-coffee launches by large café chains, QSR operators, hotels and packaged-food companies.
- Growth in National Barista Championship participation and subsequent hiring or training partnerships.
- Arabica and robusta price movements, climate-related crop disruption and availability of traceable specialty lots.
- Evidence of tier-2 city expansion, including store openings, format pilots and delivery-platform demand for premium coffee.
- Café chains should schedule supplier, equipment and franchise meetings around the festival and secure trial terms for beans, machines and maintenance.
- Roasters should use the event to pitch differentiated Indian-origin lots, subscription products and private-label offerings to hospitality, modern retail and export buyers.
- Equipment makers should pair product launches with financing, leasing and service-network proposals, as upfront capex remains a barrier for independent cafés.
- Consumer brands should time limited-edition coffee launches and barista-led tastings to the festival, then measure repeat purchase rather than relying on event-led awareness.
- Investors and operators should benchmark green-coffee availability, milk costs, outlet payback periods and barista retention before treating specialty-coffee expansion as a broad rollout signal.