On this page you can find information about the competitions of both the Helsinki Coffee Festival and the Ice Cream and Chocolate Carnival. Please check the instructions for the categories you are participating in.

The competitions for filter coffee and decaffeinated coffee will be held on Tuesday, 9th of April, 2024, at Konttori Cafe in the Cable Factory.

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• Please register your competition coffee by 1st of April by using THIS FORM. The same form can also be found under the "important notifications" section.
• The product participating in the competitions must be delivered as beans to us by 7th of April. The product can be mailed or delivered to: Kaapelitehdas, Konttori, Kaapeliaukio 3, 00180 Helsinki. The packaging must clearly state that it is addressed to Helsinki Coffee Festival.

Please note! 1 product per participating company. The competing coffee has to be delivered as beans. We recommend delivering two packages, if possible.

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The competition coffees are brewed by an impartial professional barista. Wilfa is our partner of the 2024 filter and decaf coffee competitions. To ensure the same quality and brewing conditions  that allow consumers to easily achieve similar taste experiences at home as the judges, the competition coffees are prepared using Wilfa PERFORMANCE brewers and the coffee beans are ground using Wilfa SVART UNIFORM mills.

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The judges taste the coffees anonymously. Coffees are evaluated based on sweetness, acidity, balance and aftertaste. If any of the coffees receives the same score in the same category, the judges will vote for the winner.

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We will inform all participants of their placements right after the competition. This way, the finalists can prepare for an extensive sales of competition products during the event. The top 3 placements will be announced to the public on Friday the 19th of April around 11:30 a.m. in connection with the professional day stage program. We will inform those who placed in the top 3 separately about the details. Please note that we will not reveal the winners before the official announcement on 19th of April. When participating in the competition, the contestants agree to keep the competition outcome confidential until it is officially announced.

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Please note that there has been a very high demand for the coffees that do well in the competitions every year, and therefore the coffee participating in the competition should be widely available on the Finnish market. The coffees participating in the competition must be available at the event until Sunday, 21st of April, because of the possibility to taste the competition coffees marketed to visitors.

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NOTE! There has to be a minimum of 50 packages of the winner coffee available for the competition partner, Wilfa. Wilfa will buy these coffees from the roaster at the market price. Details will follow closer to the competition. In addition, we will collaborate with Konttori coffee shop after the event. Konttori will sell the top 3 coffees of the filter coffee competition in May. There will be more information about this closer to the competition. There should be a minimum of 2kg of the top 3 coffees for Konttori. Konttori will buy these coffees from the roaster. If possible, a larger amount will be agreed upon. Please take these points into account when choosing the competition coffee.

The competitions for kombucha of the year will be held on Tuesday, 9th of April, 2024, at Konttori Cafe in the Cable Factory.

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• Please register your competition product by 1st of April by using THIS FORM. The same form can also be found under the "important notifications" section.
• The product participating in the competitions must be delivered to us by 7th of April. The product can be mailed or delivered to: Kaapelitehdas, Konttori, Kaapeliaukio 3, 00180 Helsinki. The packaging must clearly state that it is addressed to Helsinki Coffee Festival.

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All kombuchas will be competing in the same category. The competition kombuchas will be served to the judges in glasses for tasting. Judges will taste the kombuchas anonymously. Kombuchas will be evaluated based on sweetness, balance, aftertaste, and overall impression. If any of the kombuchas receives the same score, the judges will vote for the winner.

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Each participating company can submit 2 products to the competition.

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We will inform all participants of their placements right after the competition. This way, the finalists can prepare for an extensive sales of competition products during the event. The top 3 placements will be announced to the public on Friday the 19th of April around 11:30 a.m. in connection with the professional day stage program. We will inform those who placed in the top 3 separately about the details. Please note that we will not reveal the winners before the official announcement on 19th of April. When participating in the competition, the contestants agree to keep the competition outcome confidential until it is officially announced.

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Please note that there has been a very high demand for the products that do well in the competitions every year, and therefore the product participating in the competition should be widely available on the Finnish market. The products participating in the competition must be available at the event until Sunday, 21st of April, because of the possibility to taste the competition products marketed to visitors.

The competitions for chocolates of the year will be held on Tuesday, 9th of April, 2024, at Konttori Cafe in the Cable Factory.

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• Please register your competition products by 1st of April by using THIS FORM. The same form can also be found under the "important notifications" section.
• The product participating in the competitions must be delivered to us by 7th of April. The product can be mailed or delivered to: Kaapelitehdas, Konttori, Kaapeliaukio 3, 00180 Helsinki. The packaging must clearly state that it is addressed to Helsinki Coffee Festival. There should be enough product for 3-4 judges.

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Chocolates will be evaluated based on taste, texture, appearance, and aftertaste. If any of the chocolates receives the same score in the same category, the judges will vote for the winner.

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The chocolate categories for 2024 are:

• Praline / Bonbon
• Vegan Praline / Bonbon
• Chocolate Bar
• Vegan Chocolate Bar

A maximum of 3 products can participate in each category of the chocolate competition.

Each category must have 6 participants for the category to be included in the competition.

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We will inform all participants of their placements right after the competition. This way, the finalists can prepare for an extensive sales of competition products during the event. The top 3 placements will be announced to the public on Friday the 19th of April around 11:30 a.m. in connection with the professional day stage program. We will inform those who placed in the top 3 separately about the details. Please note that we will not reveal the winners before the official announcement on 19th of April. When participating in the competition, the contestants agree to keep the competition outcome confidential until it is officially announced.

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Please note that there has been a very high demand for the products that do well in the competitions every year, and therefore the product participating in the competition should be widely available on the Finnish market. The products participating in the competition must be available at the event until Sunday, 21st of April, because of the possibility to taste the competition products marketed to visitors.

The competition for the year's espresso will be held on Friday, 19th of April, 2024, 12.15-2.15 PM. The final schedule will be determined based on the number of companies participating in the competition.

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• Please register your competition products by the 1st of April by using THIS FORM. The same form can also be found under the "important notifications" section.
• Each company will prepare their espresso at their stand. La Marzocco is the partner of the espresso competition, and there will be two espresso machines located in the Village area. If you don't have an espresso machine with you at the event or if you prefer to prepare your competition coffee at La Marzocco's booth, please inform us by April 1.
• Please also send the details of your competition coffee by April 1. We need the coffee details in advance to ensure we have accurate information about all competition coffees for purposes such as announcements.

You can indicate both the competition coffee and the need for an espresso machine on this form. The same form can also be found under the "important announcements" section.

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Note: One competition coffee per company.

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Time slots will be allocated to all companies for when the espresso should be ready. The Helsinki Coffee Festival team will provide competition cups to each booth in advance and will collect and deliver the competition products to the judges for tasting.

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An impartial panel of judges will taste the coffees anonymously. The coffees will be evaluated based on sweetness, acidity, balance, and aftertaste. If any coffee receives the same score, the judges will vote for the winner. 

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The winners will be announced, and the placements will be informed to the winners after the points calculation during the event's stage program on Friday, April 19th, around 5:30 PM.

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Please note that there has been a very high demand for the coffees that do well in the competitions every year, and therefore the coffee participating in the competition should be widely available on the Finnish market.

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The competition for the year's tea in various categories will be held on Tuesday, 9th of April, 2024 at Konttori Cafe in the Cable Factory.

• Please register your competition products by 1st of April by using THIS FORM. The same form can also be found under the "important notifications" section.
• The product participating in the competitions must be delivered to us by 7th of April. The product can be mailed or delivered to: Kaapelitehdas, Konttori, Kaapeliaukio 3, 00180 Helsinki. The packaging must clearly state that it is addressed to Helsinki Coffee Festival. 
• There should be enough product for 3-4 judges.
• We recommend delivering two packages, for example, in case of damage during delivery.
• Categories with at least 8 participating companies will proceed.
• One competition product per company per category.
• Price ceiling is 200€/kg (the tea merchant's sell-out price including VAT - not the buy-in price)

Tea categories:

• Black tea
• Green tea
• Flavored tea (Has to be Camellia sinensis, no herbal, rooibos, mate..)

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The tea competition is organized in collaboration with Teen Ystävät ry. The competition teas are prepared by an impartial tea professional as follows:

• Guidelines from the tea supplier on how many grams of tea per liter.
• Instructions from the tea supplier for brewing and brewing time.
• There are two brewing temperatures: green teas are brewed at 80 degrees and black teas at 100 degrees. There is no requirement for the base tea variety for unflavored tea. The tea supplier will specify the brewing temperature.
• You can provide the above information either in the message field of the registration form or provide instructions during the tea delivery.
• An impartial panel of tea professionals will judge the teas. The teas will be served to the judges without sweeteners or milk. Along with the tea served to the judges, the leaves of the respective tea will be provided on a plate for examination.

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Evaluation criteria:

The aroma, color, flavor, balance, mouthfeel, aftertaste, and overall score of the tea.

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We will inform all participants of their placements right after the competition. This way, the finalists can prepare for an extensive sales of competition products during the event. The top 3 placements will be announced to the public on Friday the 19th of April around 11:30 a.m. in connection with the professional day stage program. We will inform those who placed in the top 3 separately about the details. Please note that we will not reveal the winners before the official announcement on 19th of April. When participating in the competition, the contestants agree to keep the competition outcome confidential until it is officially announced.

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The competition for the year's ice creams in various categories will be held on Friday, 19th of April, 2024, around 4-5 PM.

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• Please register your competition products by 1st of April by using THIS FORM. The same form can also be found under the "important notifications" section.

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On the competition day, April 19th, time slots will be assigned to all companies, during which the competition product/products must be ready for pick-up at your booth. The Carnival team will pick up and deliver the competition products to the judges for tasting. There should be enough product for 3-4 judges. The Carnival team will provide bowls for serving to each participating booth.

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Ice creams will be evaluated based on taste, texture, appearance, and aftertaste. If any of the ice creams receives the same score in the same category, the judges will vote for the winner.

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The ice cream categories for 2024 are:

• Gelato
• Vegan Gelato
• Ice Cream
• Vegan Ice Cream
• Sorbet

A maximum of 2 products can participate in each category of the ice cream competition.

Each category must have 6 participants for the category to be included in the competition.

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The winners will be announced, and the placements will be informed to the winners after the points calculation during the event's stage program on Friday, April 19th, around 5:30 PM.

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The Roaster of the Year will be selected based on public voting, as well as performance in the annual filter coffee and espresso competitions.

The pitching session held on stage in previous years will be left out this year.

The event visitors, both on professional and consumer days, will have the opportunity to vote for their favourite throughout the event.

The Roaster of the Year will be awarded at the event on Sunday, April 21st, at 5:30 PM on the stage.

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