World Barista Championship: Why Should You Care?

A few of us from Transcend Coffee have been attending the World Barista Championship in Bogota Colombia during the past couple of days. The final round is happening tomorrow with competitors from Japan, El Salvador, Spain, Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, all of whom have made it through from a field of 53 international competitors. For the most part, barista championships go unnoticed by the general public and even by those who appreciate great coffee. This lack of public concern has been one of the largest criticisms of barista competitions. And yet coffee companies spend a lot of money, time and energy being involved in barista competitions. Many industry professionals volunteer countless hours to judge and organize competitions, and baristas spend as many countless hours training for the chance to represent the specialty coffee community as the best barista on the planet for one year. So why do we do it, and why should it matter to those outside the industry?

Those of us within the coffee community are constantly asking ourselves questions along these lines and thinking about how we might draw bigger audiences to these events. How can we make it more exciting, more interesting, more informative, more relevant to the consuming public? There is stll much work to do on this front, despite much refinement over the past few years. Regardless, I still believe that there is much value to the specialty consumer from these competitions, even though most customers have never heard of the World Barista Championship.

What is the value of competition at the cafe level you might ask? Well in a nutshell, I think it stems mostly from pushing quality within the cafe culture. Baristas who compete, tend to work for coffee companies who espouse quality. Baristas who wish to compete and succeed in these competitions must train hard at refining their skills. To successfully compete, a barista must achieve mastery over the espresso machine and grinder, and it requires them to be able to perform at this high level under tremendous pressure. All of this has a direct positive impact on the customer of an establishment who have baristas who invest in training for competitions. The product served will be better prepared and the barista will be more consistent. Baristas who train for competition also typically serve as inspiration and motivation to other baristas within a company which spurs fellow colleagues along in their journey towards quality. At the end of the day, most shops want to serve better quality to their customers. This quality starts at the producer level and works its way up the chain to the roaster and finally to the barista who serves as the final ambassador for any given coffee. The better the barista is at their job - providing their customers with a great coffee experience - the more likely it will be that the customer will enjoy and appreciate the product they consume.

At Transcend we constantly strive to produce the best quality that we can. We believe that when our customers encounter a well prepared drink by an engaged barista, it is more likely that the customer will want to learn more and join us in our passionate journey into the world of coffee. I am constantly reminding our baristas that it is not just about what's in the cup, but it is also about the experience the customer has receiving and enjoying what's in the cup. Barista championships are a key ingredient in enabling baristas to grow in their knowledge, understanding and skills which in turn makes them better ambassadors for the world of specialty coffee. This is why we participate, and it is how you as a customer of Transcend directly benefits from our time spent in places like Bogota Colombia.