[On Site] Asia's Largest Coffee Exhibition... This Year's Keywords: Contactless, Dessert, Eco-friendly

On the 10th, citizens visiting the 20th Seoul Cafe Show, which opened at COEX in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, are touring the exhibition hall. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Hyewon]"Honey, this ice cream model is cute. If we put it in front of our cafe door, it will stand out and attract many customers."

"Right, this machine also looks easy to operate. You just insert a coin, and the ice cream is made automatically. Great idea."

On the 10th, the 'Seoul Cafe Show' held at COEX Exhibition Mall in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, was bustling with visitors gathering to gain knowledge and information about starting a business.

The Seoul Cafe Show, Asia's largest coffee exhibition, celebrated its 20th anniversary this year with a record scale featuring 625 companies from 30 countries and over 3,000 brands participating. It is also the first large-scale event held at COEX since the implementation of 'With Corona'. The event runs until the 13th.

On the 10th, at the 'Seoul Cafe Show' held at COEX in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, a visitor is experiencing the automatic ice cream making machine '241 Magica' at the 'Kalpizzani' booth. Photo by Moon Hyewon, Asia Economy

On this day, visitors to the Cafe Show showed particular interest in machines that can make coffee, ice cream, and more automatically or unmanned. At the 'Calpizzani' booth showcasing the automatic ice cream maker '241 Magica,' a long queue of visitors eager to taste the ice cream formed throughout the day. This machine features a function where consumers insert a token the size of a 500-won coin, and the ice cream is automatically dispensed. Using a pump system (automatic raw material supply device), it maintains consistent taste and shape, enabling contactless sales.

A prospective entrepreneur, Mr. A (male, in his 30s), said, "I was laid off due to the impact of COVID-19 at my previous job, so I am looking into running a cafe with my severance pay. I plan to operate it together with my fianc?e, and we intend to install automatic machines to minimize labor as much as possible."

Robot specialist manufacturer 'Mint Robot' introduced 'Square Mint,' a robotic home appliance that combines a coffee machine with modern furniture, at this Cafe Show. Square Mint has a modular structure allowing installation of various devices besides coffee machines, and users can choose the furniture layout, color, and material according to their preferences.

Hyungseok Kang, CEO of Mint Robot, said, "As the only domestic robot company that independently developed the precision reducer, a core component of robots, we possess about 80% of the core components' technology, including motion controllers, drivers, encoders, and web-based teaching software. To distribute cost-effective robots to many people, we are continuously developing technologies necessary for new convergence industries, such as intelligent implementation using vision, sensors, and AI."

On the 10th, at the 'Seoul Cafe Show' held at COEX in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, first-generation famous barista Lim Jong-myung is conducting an ice cream recipe demonstration at the 'Haagen-Dazs' booth. Photo by Moon Hye-won, Asia Economy

‘H?agen-Dazs,’ participating in the Seoul Cafe Show for the first time, attracted attention by preparing various events and attractions for booth visitors. For example, first-generation famous barista Lim Jongmyung conducts three ice cream recipe demonstrations daily to inspire cafe owners in menu development.

A female cafe owner in her 50s watching the demonstrations of unique menus such as fresh fruit topping ice cream and non-caffeine affogato said, "These days, selling only coffee doesn't do well, so I am studying to sell desserts like ice cream or bread together. I think just selling ready-made products lacks competitiveness, so I want to develop my own original menu, and I got some 'tips' from this demonstration."

As eco-friendliness is a major topic, visitors also showed interest in booths exhibiting paper straws, recyclable cups, and paper packaging materials.

'Seoil,' a company developing and selling various eco-friendly material components, produces beverage straws, foldable spoons, and cups made from pulp raw materials such as rice husks, wood powder, and coffee grounds that are biodegradable and compostable. They have factories not only in Gimpo but also in eight locations including China, the United States, and Turkey.