Italian premium coffee brand Lavazza and SPAR Bean Tree coffee shops have partnered to support the deaf community in South Africa through their new customer service strategy.
The collaboration of the shops focuses on training and employing internationally-accredited coffee shop baristas through Ciro Coffee Academy (CCA).
This facilitates communication between both hearing-impaired trained baristas and patrons.
“Deaf baristas – and the sign language menus that enable communication and facilitate ordering at SPAR Bean Tree coffee shops – have been well-received by customers, who get excellent coffee and warm, friendly service,” said Debbie Haswell, SPAR’s group retail operations project manager.
CCA has designed different coffee courses to accommodate deaf barista training into their programmes.
The St Vincent School for the deaf and eDeaf are two organisations that assist CCA in recruiting candidates who wish to pursue a career in the coffee business.
Thabo Albert Mokhele, 39, a deaf barista said working as a deaf person in the service industry is not any easier or harder than being a hearing person, rather“interesting”.
“Working at SPAR Bean Tree coffee shop is a wonderful experience. I am happy when I can serve a customer a hot cup of Lavazza espresso coffee made with love,” said Mokhele.
