Australia’s Jack Simpson has won the 2025 World Barista Championship following his runner-up finish in 2024.
China’s Simon SunLei and Canada’s Ben Put rounded out the podium in second and third respectively, with Malaysia’s Jason Loo, Japan’s Hiroki Ito, and Denmark’s Christopher Sahyoun Hoff also competing in the final.
The competition was held at Host Milano, with the announcement of Simpson as the winner rounding out another successful trade show in the Italian city.
Simpson is the fourth Australian to win the World Barista Championship, following Anthony Douglas (2022), Sasa Sestic (2015), and Paul Bassett (2003). The last time Milan had hosted the competition was 2021, where Colombia’s Diego Campos emerged victorious.
This year’s championship trophy was presented 2024 winner Mikael Jasin, who pipped Simpson to the post in last year’s edition of the tournament.
Roukiat Delrue, who was one of the Specialty Coffee Association’s three Judge Operations Leads who oversaw a pool of more than 90 judges across four days of competition, praised the quality of the 2025 championships.
“This has been the highest level of competition we’ve seen yet, with many of the highest possible scores given,” says Delrue.
“In terms of trends, we’re seeing a return to classics in the sense of origins of processing methods used, along with a pursuit of mindful and intentional connection beyond just customer service.
“Alongside these, we are also seeing a more approachable level of science and technology used in tandem with real hospitality.”
After qualifying for the final with the third highest score (583) behind SunLei (604.5) and Loo (593.5), Simpson steadied to win the final with a final score of 642, 15 points ahead of runner-up SunLei’s final score of 628.
