The Melbourne International Coffee Expo (MICE), being held from Thursday 23 May to Sunday 26 May 2013, will see a highly charged, caffeinated battle of the brands as Sunbeam and Breville compete for the attention of coffee snobs, coffee lovers and coffee casuals.
Sunbeam is a platinum sponsor of MICE while Breville is simply an exhibitor. While that appears to give Sunbeam the upper hand, Current.com.au understands that Breville is planning some big announcements to steal some of this thunder.
Sunbeam has long been considered the market and mindshare leader in manual coffee; a domination that was challenged significantly two years ago when the BES900, a $1,500 machine for the domestic market, was launched by Breville to great worldwide acclaim.
John Turnbull, general manager of marketing at Sunbeam, said the famous small appliance brand would be concentrating on the E7000, a machine launched in 2012, while engaging with both coffee professionals and amateurs at MICE.
“We hope to offer something for everyone at the Sunbeam stand, from industry right through to home users," he said. "We want to encourage people to come to our stand and host interactive and engaging activities with our audience of retailers, café owners, specialty coffee stores and home users."
While Sunbeam is doing this, Breville is planning a big reveal at MICE on the opening day. The tantalising teaser for this new machine focuses on flexibility and convenience, and the removal of at-home coffee compromises.
"Until now, you've been asked to choose: difficult but delicious or automatic but average," reads the teaser for what we understand is a world first in the market, assuming our sources prove to be trustworthy oracles.
Current.com.au will be reporting live from MICE on Thursday.