ATHENS, Greece – The Barista Base Camp for WBC 2023 has officially opened at Eurogat premises in Athens. WBC sponsors have joined together to work with the local coffee machine & bar equipment company Eurogat, who in its headquarters in Athens has created 3 work stations replicating the official WBC set-up with: 1) Tempesta Coffee machine; 2) Victoria Arduino grinders; 3) BWT Water+More filtered water.
In previous weeks, the Barista competitors have signed up for 1 ½ hour training slots fixed in the 5 days preceding the competition, to test and calibrate their coffee as well as practice their routine before taking the stage at WOC. Meanwhile, the sponsor companies are on hand to accompany the baristas and answer any questions regarding the equipment.
A cordial and relaxed environment, in line with the culture of the SCA coffee community that unites people with no boundaries or borders between.
Sergio Barbarisi, representing BWT Water+More – the official water filtration sponsor, says “it’s the second year of our 4 year sponsorship, and we are again honored to be part of this team and to supply baristas with the best and most constant water quality ever supplied for a WBC competition. At the same time, this promise to the baristas represents a huge responsibility as we know that a big part of the success of a coffee extraction is the quality of water – so we take this job very seriously and work intensively with our R&D Department that moved all their equipment here on site to guarantee consistent water supply and quality according to the WBC standard”.
From Victoria Arduino, Marco Serri is supporting baristas with knowledge about the official grinders for the WBC. “After many years as official suppliers of the WBC coffee machine, we are pleased to provide again our best technology for perfect coffee grinding with our MY75 Mythos.”
With Mythos, Victoria Arduino brings all of its expertise from the world of grinding to once again lift the quality standards and contribute to the growth and promotion of quality coffee. Being a WBC partner ensures that Victoria Arduino stays close to the front end of the whole supply chain. By intercepting its requirements, it can best direct the company’s technological innovation to support the SCA and the whole coffee community.
For the Athens WBC, Mythos celebrates the culture and history of one the oldest cities in the world. Today, Athens is a flourishing metropolis with a surprising specialty coffee economy set against a lively background of Greek, European and international culture. A special limited edition version of Mythos celebrates the Greece of present and past with graphics containing elements linked to specialty coffee that capture the history and culture of ancient Greece.
The official coffee machine Tempesta is also presented on stage this year with a special graphic image dedicated to Athens. Jacopo Bambini, Group Marketing Manager from Barista Attitude, states “also this year we are proud to support the barista community with our machines and technology for this important international competition, where passion, ability and attention to details are fundamental values that our Company shares with the barista competitors. With our Tempesta coffee machine we want to provide competitors with the best tool to express their talent and have the best coffee quality in the cup.”
Eurogat headquarters in Athens, serving as the official practice site, was a very natural choice by the sponsors and proved to be the best location to support the barista trainings.
The company operates on the Greek market since 1991 and has collaborated closely with SCA as sponsors for the national competitions. AST trainer and WBC International judge Alex Sanozidis is also CEO and Technical Manager for Eurogat, and says “we are the first company in the Greek market supporting the National Barista Competitions since 2001 and every year we sponsor with machinery and provide our services to the competition. So we are honored to cooperate with the WBC sponsors also on an international level and welcome warmly the baristas to our premises. Our focus in our every day activity is to help all the young baristas to learn and improve their skills while working in the coffee industry.”
Coordinating all Barista Base Camp activities for Eurogat is Vassiliki Tsolaki, Marketing Manager. “We have gladly accepted the WBC sponsor’s proposal to become the Official Base Camp for 2023. As Eurogat has always been a hub for the barista community, it was our pleasure to welcome and host all competitors in our premises that has been dedicated in these days exclusively to them for their practice area. We hope that the facilities, relaxing area, hospitality and the booking system we have created for them have met both barista and sponsors’ requirements.
We will continue to support the barista community as this the core of our business model and culture.”
