AUCKLAND, New Zealand – BP’s top baristas have been battling it out at the annual Wild Bean Cafe Barista of the Year competition in Auckland, with Sarah Harvey from Wellington crowned as the 2018 Champion Barista of the Year.
Sarah beat 27 other regional contenders at the Pullman Hotel in Auckland yesterday to win the title as well as taking home $1,000 of prize money. In addition to this Champion win, Sarah won the title of the Supreme Winner.
The Champion Barista of the Year title is awarded to the finalist with the highest point score overall, based on four judging categories – process, taste, look, and interaction with the judges.
Other winners throughout New Zealand have also perfected their coffee craft and have been named in each of the three following categories:
• Mitchell Bond from Dairy Flat as 2018 Rookie Barista of the Year (those competing for the first time)
• Sarah Harvey from Wellington as 2018 Supreme Barista of the Year (returning contestants)
• Darshan Patel from Auckland as 2018 Store Manager of the Year (Wild Bean Cafe store managers)
BP Wild Bean Cafe is the largest Fairtrade coffee retailer in New Zealand and has been serving consistently high-quality Fairtrade coffee for 10 years, making more than 10 million cups of coffee each year.
BP New Zealand’s Managing Director Debi Boffa says:
“Every year we see so much passion from each of the finalists and this year is no exception. It’s been fantastic to see the pride in making sure each coffee is of the highest quality, not to mention the great team camaraderie. It takes a lot of skill and experience to make the perfect Wild Bean Cafe coffee and our end goal is that our baristas consistently deliver great coffee that our customers love.”
We take great pride in the quality of our coffee, and if for any reason a customer isn’t satisfied, we also offer a Wild Bean Cafe guarantee, which means that if a customer isn’t happy with their coffee, they can return it and get a replacement free of charge,” Debi says.
BP has around 1,700 trained baristas making Wild Bean Cafe coffee nationally and has been running the Barista of the Year competition since 2008 to recognise the hard-work they deliver on a day-to-day basis.
This year, 270 BP baristas entered the Barista of the Year competition.
