Events, awards, World of Coffee festival and more - a very busy week!

This week may be nearly over, but we're still recovering from what was probably one of our busiest weeks ever last week!

We started on a very sad note on Tuesday when our directors Bryan and Toni attended the celebration of the life of our long-standing customers and dear friend Chris Cregg (Places Leisure) in Lymington. He will be greatly missed.

On Wednesday afternoon we were visited by members of the NatWest North Regional Board. Bryan and Toni shared the story of the journey and growth of Cafeology, which we so strongly attribute to our values and ethics, as well as chatting about sustainability and building an inclusive culture. It was great to welcome the board and share some great discussions - and great coffee!

In tandem, over Wednesday and Thursday, Bryan and our head of coffee, Steve, attended the 25th Skills for Chefs conference in Sheffield. They judged the barista competition, which was deservedly won by Emily Boomer from Belfast Met, ahead of Bryan attending a talk on the Wednesday evening hosted by Jason Atherton.

On the Thursday evening at the gala dinner Bryan presented Emily with her award and our newest Teamology member, Vicki Fletcher, got stuck in with serving drinks and enjoying the opportunity to chat to customers.

Also in tandem (!), our director Andy and national account manager Stuart were at the NUS trade show in Cardiff, showcasing Cafeology through some great drinks and conversations.

Rolling into Thursday evening, Toni and our customer service manager Lizzie attended the Made in the UK awards at the Titanic Hotel in Liverpool. While we didn't win the Food & Drink award, it was an honour to be shortlisted and sit alongside 500 people representing the best in UK manufacturing.

While Friday was calmer for some of us, it saw Steve and our roastery manager, James Tibenham, jet off to the World of Coffee festival in Copenhagen. It proved a great opportunity to meet contacts old and new, learn about some new innovations hitting the market and consider some potential new pieces of kit that may benefit our operations.

Steve also got to spend time with some of our fantastic producers and exporters, including Camilo Enciso from Asopep in Colombia, Hernán Vergara from Colombian green coffee traders Racafé, Demilson Batista Jr. of Legendér Specialty Coffee in Brazil, some of the teams from CENCOIC INDÍGENA DEL CAUCA Cooperative and Regional Indigenous Council of Cauca (CRIC) in Colombia - plus coffee expert Lance Hendrick!

After a quick turnaround back in the UK, Steve joined Bryan to head to London and attend the Full Circle event hosted by green bean brokers DRWakefield. Full Circle is an annual event that connects roasters and producers through a day of in-depth coffee talks, discussions and tastings.

Phew! Roll on the weekend...