2025 Specialty Coffee Expo Houston Wrapped

Introduction

We came to Houston for Bext360, stayed for the Southern hospitality, and left wondering how Texans manage to drink so much hot coffee in that kind of heat.

Last week, the IVL Creatives team attended the 2025 Specialty Coffee Expo in Houston, one of North America's largest specialty coffee events. Once again, the Specialty Coffee Association made sure there was plenty to experience. 

In this blog, we share some of our highlights from the 2025 Specialty Coffee Expo in Houston, Texas.

Event marketing support for Bext360

While most people came to the Specialty Coffee Expo to taste the latest coffees and learn new brewing techniques, we came to support Bext360 with their event marketing.

In the months leading up to the event, we helped design their exhibitor booth, create sales materials, brainstorm networking activities, and organise exclusive pop-up brewing sessions with their partners. The goal was simple: help Bext360 make the most of their time in Houston.

During the event, we shot content, live-streamed on social media, and walked the exhibition floor to speak with coffee professionals about traceability, transparency, and sustainability throughout the coffee supply chain.

One of the best parts? Meeting the team and producers we work with in person. We already take care of Bext360's daily social media management, but spending three days together made it even easier to understand their business, create content, and strengthen our partnership (thanks, Dean, Dan, and Niki!).

What we learned & loved

Our main highlight was, of course, the Bext360 booth, since we spent most of our time hosting it. But we still found plenty of opportunities to walk the exhibition floor, see what was new in the coffee industry, and join the after parties. 

We also couldn't resist checking out whether the Green Coffee Connect programme was as good as it was at World of Coffee Copenhagen the year before. Of course, our friends at Vuna did not disappoint and put together another engaging programme.

The most important lesson? In this industry, you should never stop learning. Just when you think you've wrapped your head around specialty coffee, a new trend appears. Whether it's market regulations, alternative milks, mushroom coffee, upcycled fertilisers, coffee traceability, or something else entirely beyond the cup, there's always something new to learn. 

A few brands we especially loved this year:

Bean Voyage
We were invited by Bext360 to the Women-Powered Coffee Stories event from Bean Voyage and were truly inspired by this group of resilient women. Special thanks to Abhi, Sunghee, Itzel, and Flor for the warm welcome and beautiful energy you bring to everything you do.

Cotierra
Cotierra helps coffee companies accelerate the transition to regenerative agriculture by turning coffee waste into biochar. It's a great example of how coffee has so much more to offer.

Queen City Collective Coffee
Queen City Collective Coffee was founded on a simple belief: coffee is a collective chain, connecting farmers to drinkers in one continuous story. Every bag of coffee is fully traceable from origin to retail through direct-to-consumer QR codes, and profits are shared with producers through Bext360's blockchain traceability. Scott, Kyle, and Jorge, you made our time in Houston so much more fun!

Latinas in Coffee
We met Giselle from Latinas in Coffee through Bean Voyage and can only say good things. The love and energy she puts into helping women-owned coffee businesses across Latin America grow is truly unmatched.

PROTEEN
Proteen is tackling two challenges at once by using Black Soldier Fly bioconversion to turn coffee waste into high-quality organic fertiliser. It's an innovative solution that helps reduce waste while improving soil health.

Mayan Harvest Coffee
We met Rosalba through Bext360, and this woman radiates the kind of energy that makes you think she's famous! At Mayan Harvest, she produces delicious, fully traceable coffee with a story worth reading.

Bridge City Coffee
The folks from Bridge City Coffee were so much fun! Thanks, Tori, Meghan, and Zaria, for making sure the Bext360 booth was never boring. They roast fantastic coffee and are equally committed to direct trade and fully traceable supply chains.

Building a sustainable coffee brand? Let's grow it together.

After three days at the Specialty Coffee Expo Houston, one thing became clear: the coffee industry is full of good people building incredible businesses that deserve to be seen.

From roasters and producers to communities and innovators, we left inspired by the people giving coffee a whole new meaning.

If you're a sustainable coffee brand that needs help with your branding, website, social media, advertising, and more, we'd love to hear your story.

Contact us or plan a call to grow your coffee brand together.