what’s on: gcf stage

Written By Josh Graham

GCF Stage

GCF 26 is fast approaching, and we’re ready to share with you our full programme of GCF Stage guests! 

Situated in the Briggait’s main hall, the GCF stage features internationally recognised coffee professionals covering some of the most exciting and important topics in the coffee world today.

Find out what your ticket session has in store, and plan your journey so you don’t miss a thing! 

Saturday Morning

10.00 - 10.45

ROEST: Roasting Demo

Opening proceedings for Saturday Morning, our Best Roaster UK partners, ROEST, will be demonstrating their award-winning roasting tech. A must-see for budding roasters and veterans alike!

11.00 - 11.45

Panel: Scotland on the Global Coffee Map

In February 2026, Scotland captured global attention when two exceptional cafés - Ottoman Coffeehouse and Birch were named among The World’s 100 Best Coffee Shops, ranking 38th and 50th, respectively.

To celebrate this milestone, our speakers, including both ranked coffee shops, will sit down to discuss the stories behind their success.

Speakers:

12.15 - 1.15

Panel: Bean There Done That

Bean There Done That is a knowledge-sharing platform that has evolved into a movement that includes talks, panels and workshops. Led by coffee consultant Oli Jones, it’s a chance to dive into the world of competitive coffee with the help of a panel filled with talent. If you’ve ever wanted to learn more about what it takes to be a coffee champion, or even how to take your first steps into this exciting world, this is the talk for you.

Moderator

  • Oli Jones - Bean There Done That

Speakers

Find out more about this exciting panel via our blog.

Saturday Afternoon

2.30 - 3.15

ROEST - Roasting Demo

Once again, ROEST will kick off the afternoon session with more roasting demos, demonstrating the tech behind their award-winning sample and production roasters.

3.30 - 4.15

Panel: Who is Sustainability Really For?

Sustainability has become a central pillar of the coffee and wider hospitality industry, but it is also one of the most overused and least interrogated terms. 

As sustainability continues to dominate industry discourse, it risks becoming performative rather than practical.

This panel brings together voices from across coffee, dairy, food production, and hospitality to explore how sustainability is experienced differently across the supply chain. 

Moderator

Speakers 

4.45 - 5.30

The Best Coffee Shops UK 2026

Once again, we are joined by Best Coffee Shops’ Paula Fandiño-Cortés for an unveiling of The Best Coffee Shops UK 2026 List.

For coffee shops around the UK, featuring on this list can have an enormous impact in getting their name out there to coffee fans from around the UK and beyond. Don’t miss out as Paula unveils this year’s list of exceptional coffee houses and shops.

Sunday Morning

10.00 - 10.45

ROEST - Roasting Demo

Returning for both Sunday sessions, this is one for the roasters as ROEST demos how you can reduce your workload with their roasting tech.

11.00 - 11.45

La Marzocco: Shaping the Future of Hospitality

Join our esteemed GCF26 partners, La Marzocco, for an exciting panel on the future of the hospitality industry! 

This panel will examine the hospitality industry as a whole, with insights from guest speakers about what could evolve in the future of the scene, the people, suppliers and what it may look like in years to come. It will also cover anything new we should be looking out for from our guests! 

Moderator

Speakers

12.15 - 13.45

Coffee Careers

Do you dream of a career in coffee? Baristas and roasters might be the most familiar faces in the coffee industry, but they’re far from the only roles available.

Join us for a panel that covers careers all along the coffee chain, from importing to wholesale. Of course, there’ll also be insights into upping your barista skills and starting your own coffee business - brought to you by a qualified panel of people who’ve done it for real! 

Moderator

Speakers

Sunday Afternoon

2.30 - 3.15

ROEST - Roasting Demo

The final of four demos from Best Roaster UK partners ROEST.

3.30 - 4.15

Change Please: Coffee That Fuels Change

As all of us at Glasgow Coffee Festival know, coffee has an immense power to bring people together for positive change, and few represent this ethos better than Change Please.

Change Please is an award-winning social enterprise fighting homelessness through the power of social enterprise and great-tasting coffee. 100% of their profits help people experiencing homelessness in the UK & Ireland.

During this talk, we’ll hear from the Change Please team on the important work they carry out. Change Please support people experiencing homelessness in  becoming baristas and supports them with everything they need to turn their lives  around. Find out more at their Sunday afternoon slot!

4.30 - 5.15

Best Roaster Recap + Announcement

Following the Best Roaster UK Competition, brought to you in partnership with Falcon Micro, ROEST, Dog & Hat and Espresso Solutions, our Sunday Afternoon session will see a recap of the competition across the weekend, followed by a winner announcement!
With ten competitors vying for the ultimate prize, the competition is designed to test the knowledge, experience and skill of each roaster. Find out more about it here.

Join our mailing list and plan your Glasgow Coffee Festival schedule here! We can’t wait to see you there!

Josh Graham
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