In only its second year, the Compak Golden Bean North America has doubled in size! And it will be no trouble at all with the event drawing 130 delegates from all over the United States and Canada, judges will get through 650 coffee entries over the three day event.

Featuring demonstrations and discussions on roasting, green bean, water filtration, marketing, and on Thursday afternoon Mindy Spencer from Brew Global will encourage ‘relaxing the mind after coffee’.

Some of our favourite Compak Golden Bean Australia medal winners have popped on over to the event and we asked them why…

I’m here to find the magic and creativity in the USA, to see if I am still unique in the industry. I have found that there is so much passion here as well, but such a different culture which excites me.

Nat Byron – Nat’s Coffee

I’ve come to see what the other side of the world is doing & how they are working with this great product and a general look at the coffee industry internationally. It’s very interesting how diverse it all is, Portland Oregon seems to have captured the Cafe Culture (excuse the pun) where LA hasn’t really got that feel for it. The GBNA has so much potential & opportunity for roasters to meet not only Boutique/Micro roasters but some major players as well. The opportunities are still endless in this industry here and globally. Working with the great Anne Cooper is always an ever learning experience, alongside the 2013 WBC Pete Licata is pretty amazing. Overall I’m happy to be here and create a broader network through the Golden Bean which just seems to get bigger and better!

Toni Macri – Coffee Brothers

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More info on GBNA – www.goldenbean.com