Radisson Hotel Group names Abongile Mani as its first Barista Championship winner

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Eleven of the Radisson Hotel Group hotels in South Africa nominated two staff members from their food and drinks team to become trained baristas by undergoing theoretical and practical training provided by Hausbrandt, founding its new Zanetti Academy.

"We believe in providing our guests with the most memorable experience possible in our hotels and with the growing coffee and tea culture, it is imperative that we serve the best hot beverages.

"As we understand that this not only requires the best product, it very importantly means, the best skill and technique to brew to perfection and also serve each cup with a vibrant attitude," said Craig Carmichael, area chef and procurement director, Africa & Indian Ocean.

"To do so, we partnered with Hausbrandt who tailor-made an extensive six-month course to train our staff to become tea and coffee connoisseurs."

The course comprised of detailed theory and countless hours of practical training which was quickly put into practice in each of their respective hotels. The Hausbrandt trainers conducted regular on-the-job reviews to ensure that each candidate implemented their training correctly.

"As we want to leverage this unique opportunity to upskill our staff even further, we decided to progress the training into a competition which was split into two regional competitions held in Cape Town and Johannesburg to find our top four contenders. With the grand prize consisting of a trip to Italy to undergo a week-long training with Hausbrandt Internationals’ ambassadors and team, the aim of the overall champion is not only to incentivize their hard work but to even further upskill our team. Upon the winners return, they would need to roll out the training they received and cross-train their colleagues in the Radisson Hotel Group network across Africa," added Carmichael.

The finale saw the following four candidates compete for the Barista Championship title and the sought-after trip to Italy:

• Sydney Kapa, Radisson Blu Hotel & Residence, Cape Town

• Abongile Mani, Radisson RED Cape Town

• Bongani Zinto, Radisson Blu Gautrain, Johannesburg

• Shadrack Maimane, Radisson Blu Gautrain, Johannesburg

During the finale, each candidate had to create an espresso, cappuccino and a signature drink, using coffee as an inspiration within 15 minutes, while being judged on numerous elements, such as their skill and technique and also their knowledge by explaining each step.

The expert judging panel consisted of:

• Winston Thomas, the 2016 South African Aeropress Championship, 2017 and 2018 Western Cape Barista Champion, the 2017 and 2018 South African Barista Champion and World Cup Barista competition nominee for 2016 and 2019.

• Trevor Fitz, 2017 Gauteng Barista Champion.

• Lessing Msimanga, 2017 Gauteng Sensory Judge.

• Innocent Rangani Chakanyuka, coffee specialist and 2014 Western Cape Barista Champion.

Candidates were thrown with a curveball in the form of a mystery bag consisting of various ingredients for each finalist to create a drink of their choice within five minutes and present it to the judges: AJ Snetler, Radisson Blu Hotel Waterfront’s renowned bartender and Alessandro Berselli, coffee specialist, mixologist and head trainer at Hausbrandt Italy.

Jaco Viljoen, director, Zanetti Collection said, "We are thrilled to have been selected by Radisson Hotel Group to partner on this exciting initiative and to see the significant change the training has brought to the hotels. We look forward to continuing to nurture this project with the group which is playing an important role in increasing the coffee and tea expertise in the country."

"I am incredibly proud of Abongile and the full team! The skill and knowledge they have obtained through this training is remarkable and we can already see the positivity through the guest reviews. Plans are currently underway to roll this out across Africa and ensure that it becomes an annual event as we strive for our hotels to become synonymous with the best coffee and tea experience."