Chinese barista named as first contestant of Barista & Farmer 2018

Twenty-two-year-old Shanghai barista Cong Yuan is the first of the 10 participants to be chosen to take part in the 2018 edition of Barista & Farmer. The fourth annual edition of this event that celebrates the culture and excellence of coffee worldwide is to take place in 2018 in Colombia, the world’s third largest coffee producer. Thanks to the newly established collaboration with World Coffee Events (WCE), Yuan was chosen out of a pol of applicants from Hotelex Shangai Yuan will be one of 10 baristas who will have the chance to live among coffee producers in Colombia for 10 days. The format was created by Francesco Sanapo, three-times Italian barista champion, and is organised by Italian Exhibition Group and SIGEP, with the patronage of the Speciality Coffee Association (SCA). The main Sponsor is Lavazza which, through its foundation, is developing important sustainability projects in Colombia in order to offer to coffee producers the tools to manage the effects of the climate change and to relocate the families of the producers in the territories that, in the last decades, have been hit by deep social crisis. The participants in Barista & Farmer will be involved in a comprehensive project that starts with the coffee plantation harvests, includes all the stages of coffee production and the range of technologies used and ends with coffee tasting opportunities and a look at the variety of ways coffee is enjoyed. Contestants will attend the Barista & Farmer Academy, a special multidisciplinary school where they will follow SCA training modules on agronomy, botany, raw coffee, coffee roasting and coffee extraction under the direction of Alberto Polojac, along with a large number of other experts. Work and learning will be interspersed with opportunities for fun and relaxation, with themed games and competitions. The finalists will be filmed and the videos will be broadcast on www.baristafarmer.com and the talent show’s social networks. A documentary will be made about the event. Applications can be submitted here.