PRF Colombia 2022: MTPak Coffee becomes Gold Sponsor

MTPak Coffee is excited to announce its support of this year’s Producer & Roaster Forum as a Gold Sponsor.

Each year, Producer & Roaster Forum (PRF Colombia) brings together coffee professionals from around the globe to nurture long-term commercial relationships and partnerships.

This year, the event will be held at Plaza Mayor in Medellín, Colombia, and will involve two full days of networking, workshops, talks, and roundtable discussions.

As a Gold Sponsor, MTPak Coffee will play a significant role in the event as it continues in its aim to unite the roaster community.

Read on to find out more about PRF Colombia and how becoming a sponsor aligns with MTPak Coffee’s values.

What is Producer & Roaster Forum?

Since launching in 2016, PRF has provided an essential platform for the coffee community, from traders and exporters to roasters and farmers.

The annual two-day event focuses on one origin country, with previous instalments held in El Salvador, Brazil, Guatemala, and Honduras.

This year, PRF celebrates its fifth instalment in Colombia’s tech heartland of Medellín. Surrounded by farms producing some of the world’s highest quality coffees, it forms the perfect backdrop for the event.

At the heart of PRF is a two-day forum. This will include an extensive programme of talks, educational workshops, cuppings, presentations from global industry leaders, and networking opportunities for both producers and roasters.

“PRF provides the opportunity for stakeholders across the industry to witness this transition first-hand,” says PRF Colombia’s event director, Julio Guevara.

“It also allows the host country to close the gap between commercial and specialty coffee by learning more about global trends in the coffee industry.”

This year, more than 5,000 people from over 50 countries are expected to attend.

PRF Colombia aims to stimulate conversations around empowering producers.

PRF also offers roasters an Origin Trip Experience. This four-day expedition places guests with local coffee producers, giving them hands-on experience with production, processing, and trade in Colombia.

What does Gold sponsorship entail?

As a Gold Sponsor, MTPak Coffee has committed to the success of PRF Colombia 2022. In return, the company will enjoy significant marketing both in the build up to and throughout the event.

Gold sponsorship is limited to two sponsors and includes a comprehensive marketing package, as well as exclusive benefits at the forum itself.

We will have a dedicated space at PRF Colombia, where visitors can come to find out more about sustainable packaging and its importance to the future of the coffee industry.

We’ll be looking to spark conversations about everything from carbon neutrality to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, while explaining how to make the switch to recyclable and compostable products. We will also receive 15 tickets to share among employees and valued clients to help further the roaster community.

Additionally, MTPak Coffee will appear in Coffee Intelligence, a specialised publication that provides coverage in the lead up to and during the PRF event.

This is not the first time that MTPak Coffee has sponsored PRF – we were also a Gold Sponsor at last year’s virtual event. Other prominent brands who have been PRF sponsors in the past include Mayorga Organics, Rainforest Alliance, and Ally Coffee.

How does PRF align with MTPak Coffee’s values?

Since launching in 2016, MTPak Coffee has been committed to not only driving innovation and sustainability in the coffee packaging industry, but strengthening the roaster community as a whole.

We supply roasters and coffee shops around the world with compostable and recyclable coffee packaging, while offering advice on how to move away from a “take-make-waste” approach to a more long-term strategy.

At the same time, we have become a trusted voice on some of the industry’s most important topics, from net zero to the impact of COP26. Through our Education Centre, we offer a range of perspectives and industry insight to help coffee professionals make more informed decisions and reach consumers more effectively.

In this sense, MTPak Coffee has the same overarching goal as Producer & Roaster Forum: to generate conversations in the coffee industry and bring awareness to innovation in everything from sourcing to packaging.

“We’ve always been more than just a packaging company,” says MTPak Coffee’s founder, Mark Zhou. “We see ourselves as part of the wider coffee community.”

PRF also promotes MTPak’s belief in direct trade, whether sourcing coffee or packaging.

“Direct trade for coffee packaging is important because it allows roasters to communicate their needs to the people who are actually manufacturing the products,” Mark explains.

“It’s a simple concept but very few packaging companies offer it. They prefer to go through large distributors who are often less equipped to handle client requests. At PRF Colombia, we hope to create more of these mutually beneficial direct relationships.”

MTPak Coffee is incredibly excited to play such an important role at PRF Colombia. We hope that our continued commitment to the event will encourage more and more roasters to take part in the conversations it aims to ignite.

After all, sustainability, circular economy, and innovation are not simply buzzwords – they’re issues central to the success of specialty coffee. Let’s work together to take the industry forward for the benefit of everyone involved.

Producer & Roaster Forum brings together thousands of coffee professionals and industry leaders from around the world, offering a unique opportunity to network, participate in workshops, listen to talks, and join roundtable discussions.

In addition to the two-day forum, Origin Trip Experience ticket holders have the chance to spend four days staying with local hosts on coffee farms across Colombia. Here, they will have the chance to form direct relationships with producers and gain first-hand experience of coffee production.