Starbucks Korea (hereafter Starbucks) said on the 14th that it held a senior barista latte art competition and selected two winners.
According to Starbucks, the senior barista latte art competition was held on the 7th at the Starbucks Support Center in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. Now in its fourth year, the competition has been co-hosted since 2022 with the Korea Senior Club Association and the Ministry of Health and Welfare to strengthen senior baristas' coffee capabilities and provide a venue to showcase the skills they have honed on the job.
Earlier, in 2019, Starbucks signed a business agreement with the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Korea Senior Club Association and established the Starbucks Mutual Growth Training Center at the Gunpo Senior Club. At the Starbucks Mutual Growth Training Center, Starbucks baristas, together with the Korea Senior Club Association, provide professional training through talent donations to seniors who wish to become baristas. As of the first half of this year, about 1,940 senior baristas have completed this training, with cumulative training time reaching 6,400 hours.
After preliminaries involving about 100 senior baristas working at cafes affiliated with the Korea Senior Club Association, 14 senior baristas with an average age of 69, including Kwon O-yeol of the Seoul Nowon Senior Club, the oldest participant, competed in the final. Among them, the grand prizes—the Minister of Health and Welfare Award and the Starbucks CEO Award—went to barista Kim Jeong-ok of the Chungbuk Cheongju Heungdeok Senior Club and barista Lee Je-gu of the Daegu Buk-gu Senior Club, respectively.
For the top excellence award, barista Kwon O-yeol of the Seoul Nowon Senior Club, the oldest participant in this competition, and barista Baek Min-suk of the Busan Yeonje Senior Club were named. The excellence award went to barista Seong Bok-mo of the Gyeonggi Anyang Senior Club and barista Ahn Mun-jin of the Chungbuk Cheongju Heungdeok Senior Club. For the encouragement award, barista Lee Jeung-suk of the Seoul Eunpyeong Senior Club and barista Lee Jong-bok of the Daegu Nam-gu Senior Club were named.
The prize money for this competition is 1 million won each for the Minister of Health and Welfare Award and the Starbucks CEO Award. Winners of the top excellence, excellence, and encouragement awards also received modest prize money and gifts. Kim Ji-yeong, head of Starbucks' ESG team, said, "We plan to continue providing support so that many senior baristas can carry on their passion for coffee."