For over 15 years, Bellissimo Coffee InfoGroup has led the specialty coffee industry in consulting, training products and web-based information. The latest addition to its coffee education arsenal is Web Podcasting.

The "Bellissimo Single Origin and Freshly Roasted Podcast" began airing in March of 2007 and is available to listeners via three of the company's websites, espresso101.com, coffeeschool.org and coffeeuniverse.com, in addition to the iTunes Music Store. The purpose of the podcast is to educate listeners about current issues in the specialty coffee industry and to give retailers the information they need to compete in today's highly competitive market.

The premier podcast features a discussion between Bellissimo President Bruce Milletto and Bellissimo Senior Consultant Ed Arvidson on the evolution of the specialty coffee industry and the current role of the independent retailer. In the future, the podcast will call on many of the industry's leading experts, including David Griswold of Sustainable Harvest and Connie Blumhardt of Roast Magazine, to take part in lively discussions on issues as varied as fair trade, roasting and blending, and on-going operations. The podcast is produced by Jeremy Wilson of Conveyor Films in Portland.

"Since we began operations 15 years ago, it has been Bellissimo's goal to give entrepreneurs the information they need to be successful in this business. In fact, we coined the term 'coffee education,' said Milletto. "To further this mission, I am constantly trying to figure out new ways to get information out to those who need it. Podcasting is an obvious answer. Not only will our podcast be educational, but we hope people find it entertaining as well."