Despite the Resurgence of COVID-19, Various Distribution Events Proceed as Planned... What About the Tasting Corners?

The '2018 Seoul Coffee Expo' held on April 5, 2018, at COEX in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, is bustling with visitors. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Hyewon] As the fourth wave of COVID-19 intensifies, the Korea Coffee Association's decision to proceed with the industry exhibition is expected to spark controversy.

According to the distribution industry on the 8th, COEX and the Korea Coffee Association will hold the "2021 Seoul Coffee Expo" for four days starting from the 14th at COEX in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. Marking its 10th edition this year, the event is the largest annual gathering with about 25,000 industry professionals attending. It was canceled last year due to COVID-19.

This exhibition will be held as an online-offline hybrid event to expand non-face-to-face business opportunities considering the COVID-19 situation. About 200 startups and small and medium-sized enterprises will participate, showcasing various coffee-related products including coffee, desserts, beverages, and coffee machines. Participating companies will sell products to general consumers through Naver Shopping Live during the exhibition period. Visitors will be provided with B2B business opportunities.

An event for prospective entrepreneurs planning to start cafes has also been prepared. At the "Tomorrow's Cafe" special pavilion, operated under the theme of "Automation of Cafes," visitors can directly experience the future of cafes through coffee-making demonstrations and tastings by the barista robot "Baris Espresso" from "LoungeX."

The organizer, COEX, stated that they will take thorough measures reflecting the social distancing guideline of one person per 6㎡, but concerns are growing due to the nature of the event operating tasting corners. A COEX official explained, "If indoor air is intensively supplied, an environment similar to outdoors will be created, so we expect no problems," adding, "Especially, tasting corners that could cause issues will be operated only in separate areas with partitions installed."

Previously, at the Seoul International Liquor Expo held at COEX from the 2nd to the 4th, a crowd gathered at the tasting corner, leading to a temporary suspension of operations after receiving guidance from Gangnam-gu authorities. COEX plans to use this as a "lesson" to manage the quarantine of tasting corners more strictly.

The "2021 in-cosmetics Korea" event, also scheduled to be held at COEX during the same period, will proceed as planned. The exhibition, originally scheduled for June last year, was postponed to July this year due to the COVID-19 situation, marking its first occurrence in about two years. COEX has established a policy that "removing masks to try on makeup or similar actions are strictly prohibited."

However, on social media (SNS) and other platforms, concerns are pouring in about holding various offline events amid the spread of the Delta variant and daily confirmed cases exceeding 1,200. Especially, with 48 confirmed cases of cluster infection recently reported at Hyundai Department Store Trade Center Branch, there are voices worried about the possibility of secondary infection spread among participants if the expo proceeds in this heavily trafficked area.

A distribution industry official said, "In the case of coffee, consumers have needs to experience smelling or tasting, so online events alone have limitations in promotion, making offline events essential. There is some regret over continuous cancellations since last year due to the COVID-19 situation, so a considerable number of visitors are expected this time," adding, "However, we urge everyone to strictly follow guidelines such as maintaining personal distance."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.