Wimpy National Barista competition is back
Yolanda Kenosi is the winner of the annual Wimpy Barista competition. Kenosi is based at the CBD Wimpy branch, and pocketed a cash prize of P2500. Second and third places went to Koketso Moatshe ( Riverwalk) and Orapeleng Oitsile ( Francistown) who walked away with P2000 and P1500 respectively. Kenosi beat her peers from ten branches across the country. The competition was held at Goo Moremi on Tuesday this week.
Besides the Barista’s, managers from the different branches also showed off their skills, trying to outsmart each other. This segment of the competition was won by Kesaobaka Ramotlhabi ( Airport Junction), who walked away with P2000. Second and third places went to Shannon Scott ( Palapye), and Dimpho Marumo ( Western Bypass) who won P1500 and P1000 respectively. The likes of Scott and Marumo had amazing energies. After all, they were opening up the floor to their Juniors and had to illustrate to them why they were the best in the game. This was the fourth edition of the competition, with the last edition taking place in 2019.
A Barista is someone who makes and/ or serves coffee and coffee- based beverages. For this particular competition, the twenty participants were required to make a Cappuccino, and Espresso.
For the participants, this was their chance to show off their skills, following the set guidelines when it comes to making both beverages. For those who were seeing this process live for the first time, this afforded them the chance to see that, it takes skill and practice to finally sip on that lovely cup of Cappuccino. The steps are detailed, and participants had to follow them from start to end. The judges were also looking at the presentation, art and taste.
The top 20 baristas from across all branches went head- tohead, and were each given five minutes to prepare and serve their masterpieces to three
( 3) independent Judges. The panellist of judges comprised of Eve- Tendai Mpofu, Managing Director at Fine Brands, Mr Isaac Ranonyana, Training Coordinator at Retail Group and founder of Casious Café, Mr Casious Ntona who is also a former barista at Wimpy. The 10 stores were represented by one
( 1) Manager & one ( 1) Barista. The branches comprise of Game city, Western Bypass, Riverwalk, CBD, Airport Junction, Maun, Palapye, Mahalapye, Francistown and Orapa.
According to Wimpy Botswana Marketing Manager, Reginald Kefitlhile, a barista competition is an event where people compete to produce the best espressobased coffee drinks.
He explains that as management, they have used this competition platform as a means to try and enhance the passion in their baristas and keep the spirit of this unique skill alive. “Through the barista competition we aim to encourage continuous improvement as there is an added competitive element. We believe our baristas will want to spend as much time as possible perfecting their skills and coffee experience for our customers,” he said.
He also shared that the focus of the challenge is to up- skill, motivate and identify the store’s top baristas as there is always room for improvement. He also pointed out that they consider the competition a useful reward and recognition tool.
“This is a great motivator for our baristas to go over and beyond just offering coffee or a service, which contributes to encouraging their dedication to our stores and the brand,” Kefitlhile said.