Representatives of the Specialty Coffee Association board, the Specialty Coffee Association of Panama and the Panama Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture convened in Panama City. SCA press release photo.
The Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) is bringing its World of Coffee trade show to Panama in 2026.
It will be the first trade show that the SCA has hosted in a country primarily associated with coffee production, as opposed to consumption. Based jointly in the United States and UK, the SCA is the world’s largest coffee professional membership organization.
World of Coffee Panama would also be the first World of Coffee event in the Americas. The SCA’s annual flagship United States trade show is called the Specialty Coffee Expo. The similarly structured and scaled World of Coffee event historically took place annually in Europe. 2022 saw the event move into the Middle East, while 2024 will see a World of Coffee in Busan, South Korea.
“We are very proud that the Specialty Coffee Association has chosen our country for the first Latin American World of Coffee,” James Hunter Tedman, president of the Specialty Coffee Association of Panama (SCAP), said in an announcement of the event from the SCA. “We see it as a recognition of the hard work Panama has done positioning our coffees as one of the best in the world, as the best expression of ‘Specialty Coffee.’”
Representatives of the SCA and the SCAP convened with Adolfo Fabrega, the head of Panama’s Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculuture department, yesterday in Panama City to sign an agreement for the inaugural Panamanian event. The date of the 2026 trade show has not yet been determined.
SCAP President James Hunter Tedman; SCA CEO Yannis Apostolopoulos, and Panama Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture of President Adolfo Fabrega. SCA press release photo.
“We are thrilled to bring World of Coffee, our premier coffee trade show, to Central America for the very first time,” SCA CEO Yannis Apostolopoulos said in the group’s announcement. “World of Coffee Panama 2026 is our first-ever trade show in a coffee-producing country and this marks a significant step in our commitment to promoting coffee consumption within producing countries, a key element for the sustainability of coffee and in alignment with the Specialty Coffee Association’s sustainability agenda.”
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