Workshop Description: Understanding what your customers enjoy—and why—is one of the most powerful tools a coffee business can have. But formal consumer research is often out of reach for smaller operations.
This workshop introduces anyone who sells coffee (including roasters, café owners, producers, and traders) to practical, accessible techniques for mapping customer taste preferences—no statistics degree required!
Drawing on the principles behind preference mapping, you'll learn how to gather and interpret meaningful feedback from your existing customers, identify the flavour profiles that resonate most with your audience, and use those insights to make more strategic decisions. Used well, these techniques can foster loyalty, transparency, and long-term relationships across your supply chain. Day to day, they can help you decide who to send samples to, how you build your offer list, or how you choose to market your coffees.
Through a mix of short presentations and hands-on exercises, you'll leave with a clear framework you can apply immediately in your business, whatever your scale or budget.
You'll walk away able to:
Design simple exercises to understand your consumers’ preferences
Identify patterns in what your audience enjoys
Connect customer insight to sourcing and purchasing decisions
Communicate your coffee offer more effectively to the right audience
Date: Saturday, June 27, 2026
Time: 11:00 - 13:30
Location: Room 1121
REGISTRATION FEES: €150.00
Booking: To book your place in this Workshop, head to the World of Coffee Brussels Registration & Booking Portal and add a session to your order. Already registered? Simply log in using the credentials created at purchase to access your booking and add other paid events to your badge.
Instructor
Laurel Carmichael
Editor and Writer, Specialty Coffee Association
Laurel Carmichael is the Content Development Manager and Editor of 25 at the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA). At the SCA, their work involves writing, editing, and helping shape publications, including the Equitable Value Distribution Report that is the foundation of this lecture. Prior to joining the SCA in 2024, Laurel spent over 10 years as a barista, roaster, and green coffee buyer in their home country of New Zealand, and in Berlin, Germany. Laurel's work is motivated by a desire for collective learning and greater equity in the coffee sector.