This week we held our annual barista competition, kindly hosted by one of our sites, Ortus. Now in its 5th year, the barista competition is more competitive than ever with contestants from across the business competing for spots in the final and a chance to showcase their talent to the rest of the business. 

A huge thank you to our suppliers, Illy, Extract and Union Hand Roasted who pulled out all the stops prior to and during the competition with training, support and of course, coffee! 

Six of our barista’s from across the business made it through to the final, they were; 

Mo – London Stock Exchange Group Lidiane – Cromwell House Luca – Regents University Vincenzo – CBRE Antonella – Metal Box Riccardo - Disney

The afternoon started with a welcome from each of the coffee suppliers before each contestant took to the stage to compete for the golden prize – their very own coffee machine and the prestigious title of “Vacherin Barista of the Year” 

Competition was tougher than ever with three heats for each finalist to get through; a simple espresso, two milk based drinks and finally – their specialty drink. Each of their drinks were then presented to our panel of expert judges – made up of: 

Clive Hetherington – Vacherin Owner and Executive Finance Director Andrew Tucker – Guest Judge and Director of Operations at Paced Group Ausrine Peseckaite – PA, Office Manager & Coffee aficionado! Shane Cooke – Development Chef and coffee lover! 

Despite the tough competition, the judges came to a verdict and delivered the results to the room and a live stream via social media. A huge well done to all of the finalists – the decision really was extremely tough! 

A massive congratulations to our runner up Lidiane and to our winner… Luca from Regents!! You blew the judges away with your barista talent and especially your speciality drink! 

A huge thank you to Katie, Steph, Anna, Simon and all of the team at Ortus for their hard work in organising and running the event. See you all next year!