Held since 2000, the World Barista Championship has only had two Latin American winners to date. In the other years, the winners were all from countries that consumed coffee. What can be done to change this trend?
The 2018 World Barista Championships in Amsterdam were won by Polish barista Agnieszka Rojwska in a semifinal where all participants were from countries that consumed specialty coffees. Not even one Latin American made it to the podium. To understand this reality better, we need to go back a little bit in time.
The first World Barista Championship held in 2000, in Monte Carlo, had only 14 competitors (13 European and one American) and was won by a Norwegian. Iceland, Denmark, Australia, Italy and Croacia ranked 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th, respectively. www.wbc.com
In the following Championship, held in Miami, the representative of Denmark won, whose country had also won in 2002, in Oslo. In fact, 2002 was the first year in which producing countries such as Brazil and India competed for the first time. India, by the way, took the third place. And Isabela Raposeiras, our representative, finished 16th. Her career after the championship took off in such a way that she became a sort of ambassador for specialty coffees around here, which resulted in the opening of her cafeteria and barista and toast school, Coffee Lab. Read the full article on her career at here.
In 2003, the World Championship was held in Boston, USA and Australian, Paul Basset, took the trophy home. Mexico, Indonesia, Puerto Rico, Colombia competed for the first time and Brazil ranked 22nd, being represented by Mariana Camargo.
The incensed Tim Wendelboe from Norway won the 2004 competition, in Triestre, Italy, and Brazilian Sílvia Magalhães, had a good result, ranking 12th. Over the next two years, 2005 and 2006, Denmark was victorious.
In 2005, by the way, our barista, Priscila Da Silva Souza, exceeded the presentation time and was disqualified. In 2006, Luiz Octavio, from Lucca Café finished in the 37th place.
And in 2007, Englishman James Hoffmann won the championship. However, that was a very important year for Brazil. Our barista, Silvia Magalhães, finished in sixth place, which was, by the way, the only time in which the country ever participated in a World Championship final.
In 2008, it was the turn of Stephen Morrisen, from Ireland, to become champion. Brazil was represented by Everton Penning Peter, who finished in the 37th place.
In 2009, Gwilym Davies, from England, was the champion and our fellow countrywoman, Yara Thais Brown, was ranked 18th. In 2010, American Michael Phillips was the winner. This was a good year for the Latin Americans: Brazil, Mexico, Honduras and El Salvador competed in the semifinals. Yara Castanho finished 8th.
Latin Americans, Alejandro Mendez from El Salvador and Raúl Rodas from Guatemala were crowned champions in 2011 and 2012, respectively. That year, Mexico finished second and Colombia, Costa Rica and Guatemala managed to advance to the semifinals.
As for 2013, an American was the winner, and William Hernandez won and was followed, in 2014, by Japanese Hidemori Izaki. The venerated Sasa Sestic, Australian, won in 2015, Berg Wu from Taiwan won in 2016, followed by Dale Harry from England, in 2017, and Polish Agnieszka Rojwska, in 2018.
What happened to Latin Americans
Unlike Latin Americans who simply cannot make it to the semifinals since 2015, other countries producing specialty coffees like Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Kenya have achieved good results.
But let’s get back to what matters: why can’t Latin American baristas, and especially Brazilians, get good results at the World Championships?
Pointing to the lack of incentives of the Brazilian specialty coffee chain alone is not enough. It is true that the reasons for such poor performance for years in a row are many. But, what to do in order to change this scenario?
The first point is the average salary of a barista in Brazil, which does not exceed much of the R$ 1,343.00 per month. The salary can vary from R$ 684.00 to R$ 6,054.00 (barista work on an international ship). This salary estimate is based on 123 salaries posted by employees at www.lovemondays.com.br, which is part of www.glassdoor.com, the most transparent job and recruitment site in the world.
With such a low salary (which unfortunately corresponds to the reality of the country, though), it is almost impossible to pay for trips out of one’s own pocket, to buy books, to take courses and even to pay the bills. Without a support from private companies, employers and other partnerships, it is very difficult to take on foreigners.
Salvadorian barista coach Federico Bolaños has an opinion: “The world of specialty coffees is constantly evolving. What worked in 2017, will no longer work in 2018, let alone next year. South American baristas, in general, did not evolve at the same pace as the other countries. You have to look at the profession very seriously, read a lot, study, investigate and try many coffees. It is not about following trends, but about creating them! No more copying what the others are doing; you have to come up with ideas that will revolutionize the market and improve coffee,” explains the coach. www.soybarista.com
Another point is that, currently, the elite of the international baristas competes with the Gueisha coffees, from Panama. They are expensive, often making the access of our professionals to the product unfeasible.
An international champion has never won for competing with a specialty Brazilian coffee. As part of the international competitors will visit the country more assiduously this year, because of the championships that will take place here, it is quite possible that this scenario will change. “International events will serve as a showcase for the Brazilian specialty coffee and may stimulate business in the future, as baristas will necessarily deepen their knowledge about Brazilian special grains and bring this information to their countries,” says BSCA director Vanúsia Nogueira.
Reading books on the subject, improving by taking recognized courses, following the works and the presentations on the internet of renowned baristas and, remembering that, first of all, the core of the profession is to “serve”, also help a lot.
In the last Brazilian championship of the class, held at the beginning of the year in Rio de Janeiro, won by Thiago Sabino, the Specialty Grain had the opportunity to interview the international judges, among them Luke Adams, who was categorical: “One must be humble all the time. Do not forget that the role of baristas is also to clean their equipment all the time during the presentation, especially in a world championship. The end of a presentation should be the same as the end of the day in a coffee shop: one must absolutely clean all surfaces, the grinder, the machine etc. Read the full article and watch the interview video at the link.
Upon being interviewed, jurors made a point of highlighting the stance of Dale Harry, an English world champion in Seoul, Korea, in 2017. “Dale is obstinate for his work, washing thousands of cups a day. And for him, this type of activity does not diminish him as a professional; on the contrary,” they said.
With regard to the knowledge about the production of specialty coffees, Brazilians, of course, take advantage for being one of the few countries where they have the two ends: consumption and production. It is certain that Brazilian consumers are not yet as sophisticated as European ones, for example, but it is only a matter of time. Now, taking advantage of all the opportunities to learn inloco, on the farm, a few miles from home, is a matter of commitment.
The role of associations
Recently the Brazilian Association of Specialty Coffees (BSCA) and the Brazilian Agency for the Promotion of Exports and Investments (Apex-Brazil) signed a two-year renewal of the “Brazil, the Coffee Nation” program, in a total amount of R$ 14 million, valid until May 2020.
Besides a series of initiatives, mainly in the Asian market, part of the money of the program will be invested in the relationship with baristas. BSCA President Carmem Lucia Chaves de Brito points out that, for the first time in history, Brazil will be the stage of the main international barista competitions, from November 7 to 9, within the International Coffee Week (SIC) in Belo Horizonte, when the country will host four modalities, with hundreds of competitors from approximately 50 countries.
“With regard to our unimpressive performance at the World Championships, we must, first and foremost, recognize where we are, in humility. Only by doing so can we change this scenario,” says Carmem.
The idea of BSCA is to spray as much as possible the accomplishment of championships in the different regions of the country. “Wherever we have people from the specialty coffee chain interested in promoting these events, BSCA will be there as a partner too,” Carmen comments.
Change of mindset
“We are following the championships that are being held in Brazil, and we can clearly notice an evolution of the work performed by these professionals. We are coming from a generation of very vain baristas for a new generation much more committed to turning the activity into a profession for life. I’m sure we’ll see Brazilian baristas in a semi-final in the next five years,” he emphasizes.
By the end of 2018, BSCA will promote about 10 regional championships and that number may grow up to 20% next year. “We are sensitive to this need of the market itself,” he admits.
Brazilian barista coach Éder Hilario, who has been in the market for 10 years, is responsible for training professionals in large coffee shops. He believes that after BSCA took over the coordination of the championships, about two years ago, there was a significant change. “We are still late, mainly because our coffee consumers are not as demanding as European or Asian ones,” he says. Information is another point: “Outside the country, Baristas are freezing the grinding of the grains with nitrogen to obtain a better homogenization, and this is a technique that has not even showed here yet,” concludes Hilario.
