Australia has proven its strong coffee game once again with the announcement that it is World Coffee Events (WCE) Best Performing Nation for 2015.
Each year, WCE tallies the points competing baristas accumulate at the world championships to determine which country performed the best.
This year, WCE were forced to award extra points to the competitions with higher entrants, due to a tiebreaker between Australia and Norway.
With Australia taking home the World Barista Championship (WBC) in Seattle and World Latte Art Championship (WLAC) in Gothenburg, two of the most popular competitions, a clear winner was determined.
“The credit for this award can be shared by many,” said Australian Specialty Coffee Association (ASCA) President, Brent Williams. “A number of respected industry leaders assisted in training and coaching our competing baristas this year, and it showed.”
Ona Coffee’s Sasa Sestic brought home the WBC trophy in 2015, while Caleb Cha did the nation proud with his WLAC win.
“Sasa, Caleb and all our representatives deserve a huge congratulations,” said Brent. “Thank you to all the baristas for showcasing our coffee credentials with such professionalism. A big thanks also to the ASCA sponsors for supporting the local industry.”
Brent said ASCA now has its sights set firmly on the 2016 world championships.
“With the right level of coaching there’s no reason Australia couldn’t bring home back-to-back trophies,” said Brent. “Of course it’ll be tough, but our baristas and latte artists have proven over the years that more wins are just around the corner.”
Brent said getting as many people as possible participation in ASCA events is the best way to ensure we continue our winning streak.
“Coaching, training and sharing ideas is the only way to maintain our dominance,” he said. “Signing up for national comps is a guarantee of those three things.”