Yes, its on every two years at this time (biennial???) for the trade. Not a retail event. Just got back. My first gut impression is that far fewer fledgling business people attended this time, in contrast to the past few Hosts. These would be the small or new operators who go around the show tying up exclusive agencies for various products for the purpose of tying the product up for themselves and NOT letting anyone else have it. Thing is this practice eventually backfires on them (small but "exclusive agents") when the manufacturer wakes up some time down the track and asks where all the promised unit sales have gone....manufactureres want to maximise their production, not stifle it. Its the trouble with small operators trying to present at large international events like this as being far bigger than they really are, and its possible the poor state of many economies is keeping this group of people away from HOST this time around. And reading between the lines I would say there are quite a few espresso machine manufacturers proceeding rather slowly at the moment. Nothing much new, business is tough, manufacturers trying to impress by WOWing the market by developing and presenting ever fancier, way out styling (to the point where it gets in the way of something being able to do the job for which it is intended ie cafe coffee making workhorse). Colourful LED lighting is abundant in styling this year. Very crowded through to the second last day, the last day was close to dead. Unseasonably warm over there at the moment, they have the same problems we have with global warming and erratic weather etc. Just a random thought or two.
