Busan Launches Coffee City Forum to Foster Sustainable Growth in Coffee Industry

The City of Busan announced today the launch of the "Busan Coffee City Forum" at Momo's Roastery & Coffee Bar in Bongnae-dong, Yeongdo-gu. The forum, consisting of around 100 members from academia, industry associations, and coffee industry stakeholders, aims to promote sustainable growth and create a thriving ecosystem for the coffee industry in Busan.

As a major logistics hub, Busan is responsible for distributing over 93% of imported coffee products in Korea. The city's advantageous location and skilled human resources make it a prime candidate to become a global coffee city. Busan has already made a name for itself in the coffee world, boasting the first-ever winner of the World Barista Championship (WBC) and multiple winners of the World Coffee Championship (WCC). Since 2021, the city has pursued numerous initiatives such as branding, festival support, research and development, and certification support to further bolster its coffee industry.

The Busan Coffee City Forum is chaired by Mayor Park Heong-joon, An Sung-min, Chairman of the Busan Metropolitan Council, and Kim Jin-soo, President of the Busan Ilbo. This collaborative organization is structured with advisory committees, executive committees, and subcommittees, with its office located at Busan Techno Park. The forum will work to develop a cooperative value chain between academia, industry, and government, identify and resolve current issues in the coffee industry, and explore new policy projects through its seven subcommittees.

The launch event will include a speech from Mayor Park, a declaration of cooperation for the development of the Busan Coffee City Forum, a coffee talk concert featuring directors of the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA), industry professionals, and coffee champions, and a coffee lecture by the 2022 World Cup Tasters Championship winner.

Mayor Park emphasized the importance of nurturing emerging industries for Busan's future, stating, "The launch of the Busan Coffee City Forum today expresses our determination to foster the coffee industry as a driving force for new growth industries. We will do our best to foster the coffee industry so that Busan, which has the potential to be a domestic coffee city with great potential, can leap to become a global coffee city."