• DMCC Coffee Centre supports entire coffee value chain, reaffirming its critical role in the global industry
• A Shot in the Dark is the first coffee roasting competition to come to UAE and welcomed 18 of the best roasteries in GCC
• Emmanuel Velora from the UAE’s Gold Box Coffee Roasters being named the winner

DMCC – the world’s flagship free zone and Government of Dubai Authority on commodities trade and enterprise – brought 18 of the top coffee roasteries in the GCC together for the first Middle East edition of the “A Shot in the Dark” roasting competition.

The competition, which has been running across Southern Africa for over five years, saw competitors issued with three types of green coffee beans from Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and Tanzania, roasting each bean individually and then creating an espresso blend to the best of their ability.

Emmanuel Velora from Dubai-based Gold Box Coffee Roasters was named the winner of the competition. Second place went to Qatar’s Empire Coffee and third place to the UAE’s Archers Coffee.

With Dubai now positioned as a global gateway for the global coffee trade, the competition served as a platform to connect a wide range of stakeholders within the coffee community – from coffee farmers, roasters, and café owners, to exporters, traders, and retailers – creating business opportunities whilst facilitating knowledge and skill sharing across the roasting community.

The state-of-the-art 7,500m² temperature-controlled DMCC Coffee Centre continues to attract, facilitate and drive global coffee trade. From crop to cup, the centre offers cost-effective logistical support as well as world-leading infrastructure and services that connect the fast-growing consumer markets to major coffee-producing nations. The centre has witnessed a strong growth in volume and increase in member businesses over the past months – further supporting the status of Dubai as a central hub for the entire coffee industry.