Today’s excellence is tomorrow’s ordinary: inside ECS+COHO Berlin 2026

Ahead of the European Coffee Symposium and COHO Expo at the JW Marriott Berlin from 24 to 26 November, 5THWAVE Editor Tobias Pearce sat down with Ludovic Rossignol, Chief Event Officer at Coffee Ventures Europe, to talk about this year’s theme, the pressures reshaping Europe’s coffee shop market, and what industry leaders from 52 countries can expect in Berlin

Tobias Pearce: Ludo, let’s start with the theme. “Today’s excellence is tomorrow’s ordinary”. That is quite a provocation for an industry that likes to celebrate its standards

Ludovic Rossignol: It is meant to be. Everything in our sector is moving faster than it ever has. Matcha was a niche product a few years ago. Today it sits at the centre of almost every coffee shop menu.

That is not a problem; it is progress. But it means the brands that stand still get absorbed into the average very quickly. The theme is a question for every operator and supplier in the room: what are you doing now that will still make you stand out from the sea of sameness in six months?

TP: Why does that question feel so urgent this year?

LR: Because several forces are arriving at the same time. Across Europe, the economic pressure is real. Costs are up, margins are tight, and consumers are thinking harder about every purchase. At the same moment, Gen Z is becoming a core customer.

They spend with intention, and they want brands that embody their lifestyle. Standing for something is no longer enough. And at the same time, these customers want more and have less to spend.

That is why redefining value sits at the very centre of this year’s symposium, and of every discussion delegates will have in Berlin.

TP: Who do you see getting that right?

LR: A new wave of coffee shop operators, such as LAP, Blank Street, The Coffee and WatchHouse, along with established brands that are reinventing themselves.

Look at Joe & The Juice, which keeps innovating through collaborations and seasonal offers, or Circle K, whose latest coffee programme roll-out is raising the bar for what customers expect from coffee on the go.

Among the coffee-focused operators, Costa Coffee has successfully rolled out matcha across the UK, Starbucks has launched a premium bakery range, and Caffé Nero is tapping into the functional beverage trend with its first protein range.

“Great partnerships don’t start on Teams, and handshakes don’t happen on Zoom”

These businesses understand that Gen Z is not buying a drink; they are buying into a lifestyle they aspire to. And they design for it: a unique drink, a feeling of belonging, a standout moment, an elevated treat, content worth sharing.

They can do this at the value end of the market just as well as at the premium end. It is all about delivering value, and a value that is unique to them. When you get that right, the combination is very hard to copy, which is exactly why it works.

TP: Where do suppliers fit into that story?

LR: Right at the core. No operator reinvents itself alone. The new drink, the new format, the better equipment, the packaging that tells the story: these come from partnerships between brands and their suppliers. That has always been the heart of the European Coffee Symposium.

TP: Let’s get practical. If someone is coming to Berlin, what are the three things they should not miss?

LR: First, the talks. We have 51 speakers across three days, and I would say it is one of the strongest line-ups we have ever had, especially with the number of challenger brands that are disrupting the market and scaling fast, alongside the established brands everyone is watching.

“We organise more than 2,000 meetings between some of Europe’s largest coffee shop chains and foodservice operators”

You can explore every European Coffee Symposium session, but a few themes stand out. How to create a cult brand. How to scale a specialty coffee business without losing what made it special. A deep look at Gen Z. And the plant-based versus dairy, as well as craft versus automation debates.

TP: And the industry research side?

LR: That is the Business Insight Summit, a series of research-led sessions by World Coffee Portal on the core European markets and China. In addition, the main keynote of the symposium will feature Jeffrey Young, who will present Allegra’s latest Project Café study on the future of the European coffee shop chain market.

If you want to understand where the market is going before your competitors do, that is the session to be in.

TP: And the second not-to-be-missed feature?

LR: Product innovation, across both the one-to-one meeting programme and COHO Expo. This year we worked very closely with World Coffee Portal to identify seven consumer wants shaping Europe’s coffee shop market: More Choice, Bespoke and Personal, More Convenience, Craftsmanship, More Value, New Formats, and Speed of Service.

Every innovation at the event is mapped against those wants. Before you even arrive, you can go to the Product Innovation Gallery to filter products by the consumer want that matters most to your business and plan exactly what you want to see, taste and test in Berlin.

TP: So it is less of a catalogue and more of a decision tool...

LR: Exactly. If your priority this year is speed of service, you should not have to walk the whole floor to find the three solutions that matter to you. You should know before you land.

TP: What about the third essential feature of the event?

LR: The European Coffee and Hospitality Awards. This year we are celebrating the Top 200 brands, and we have introduced five new categories to recognise new non-specialist operators that are raising their coffee game across Europe.

You can see the full Top 200 here. The awards show the industry who is setting the standard right now, which is the standard everyone else will be measured against tomorrow.

TP: Underneath all of that, what is the engine of the event?

LR: The one-to-one meeting programme. It is the signature programme of the European Coffee Symposium. We organise more than 2,000 meetings between some of Europe’s largest coffee shop chains and foodservice operators, and a carefully selected group of suppliers, from the most cutting-edge newcomers to the best-established names in the industry. Every meeting is pre-qualified and pre-scheduled, and every one has the same purpose: to start a partnership. You can find out how it works here.

TP: In a world of video calls, why does that still need to happen in person?

LR: Because that is the whole point. The symposium is about being out of the office, being offline, and being in the room with the people who shape the future of coffee and hospitality. Great partnerships don’t start on Teams, and handshakes don’t happen on Zoom.

You need to taste the product, meet the team behind it and look the other person in the eye. That is when real decisions get made.

TP: And for operators reading this who want to be in that room?

LR: Accreditation is now open for selected qualifying operators. If you lead a coffee shop or foodservice business, you can apply here for the chance to join us in Berlin as our guest

TP: Last question. What do you want people to leave Berlin with?

LR: Clarity and confidence. Clarity on where the market is going, and confidence in the partners they will build it with. The pace of change is not going to slow down, and the businesses that win are the ones that keep choosing to reinvent themselves.

So I very much hope you will switch your out-of-office on, and we will see you offline in Berlin for three days of inspiration, connection and partnership building.