Premium hospitality company Restaurant Associates launched its first ever Barista Championships on 17th February, showcasing caffeine perfection from across the UK Coffee Community

Phased at three levels – foundation, intermediate and expert – the championships invite baristas from across the business with different experience sets to enter from independent cafes to chains, including HEJ Coffee to Starbucks showcasing their skills in the 2022 contest.

Set to take place annually moving forward, this year’s judging panel included:

• James Wise – Coffee Master Champion 2017
• Imogen Davis – Director of Native Restaurant
• Mat Keech – Managing Director of Hej Coffee
• Chris Stern – Managing Director of Stern Consultancy
• Sonia Carvalho – Head of Coffee and Community – Restaurant Associates

The winners of three categories included: Joao Claudio from IWM London Café winning the foundation level; Alexis Olmedo from Hej Kings Cross winning the intermediate level and Barista trainer Nicolas Menegon winning the expert level.

Sonia Carvalho, Head of Coffee and Community at Restaurant Associated says, “Community which activates positive change is at the heart of everything we do at Restaurant Associates, and we couldn’t be more excited to bring the coffee community together for this year’s Championships. We hope, through showcasing and sharing skills, our baristas are inspired to continue striving for excellence.”

For more information go to https://restaurantassociates.co.uk/

Restaurant Associates

Restaurant Associates is the UKs leading restaurant and event management group, working across the country’s most popular visitor attractions to provide high-end culinary experiences. Restaurant Associate Venues comprise the UK’s largest collection of unique, cultural and heritage venues including Glyndebourne, Hatfield House and have recently announced a three-year tenure with IWM London. Additionally, Restaurant Associates operate leading London city restaurants such as Michelin-starred, City Social in partnership with Jason Atherton, and most recently Dipna Anand at Somerset House. Sitting underneath the umbrella of Compass Group UK & Ireland, Restaurant Associates have also recently announced their commitment to reach Climate Net Zero by 2030. This comes as part of the UN’s Race to Zero campaign, in line with global targets to limit climate change.