The Sixth Iran’s International Coffee Festival, also known as Coffeexiran 2018, is scheduled to open at Tehran’s International Permanent Fairground on March 2.
According to the official website of the event, Coffeexiran.com, the annual event seeks to introduce the latest products and services related to coffee industry in the Iranian market.
World-renowned baristas will be holding training courses during the four-day event.
The history of drinking coffee in Iran dates back to the 9th century AD.
The drink became very popular in Safavid era in the 16th century when a well-known pharmacist wrote a treatise on the characteristics of coffee, presenting it to one of the Safavid rulers.
Nevertheless, tea remains the favored beverage in Iran while coffee is mostly consumed in coffee shops, which have fast spread in Tehran and other large cities over the past years.
Coffee drinking and going to cafés have lately picked up in Iran, especially among the young people.
A total of 1,654 tons of coffee worth $4.25 million were imported from 14 countries, including the UAE, Vietnam, India, Indonesia, Turkey and Italy, in the first half of the current Iranian year (March 21-Sept. 22, 2017).
The most expensive coffee was imported from Romania that sold 12 tons worth $116,000 to Iran during the period.
Presently, the import tariff on coffee, plus customs tax and duties, stands at
