Laurentiu Stefan emerged the winner of the Romania Barista Championships, sponsored by La Spaziale among others, which finished up on Sunday 31 March. The Romania Barista Championships were organised by the Specialty Coffee Association of Europe (SCAE)'s Romania branch. The competitions were run during the Coffee Lovers Event 2013 at the second edition of the RomEXPO exhibition in Bucharest, from 28 to 31 March. Stefan will now go on to represent Romania at the World Barista Championship, hosted by the Melbourne International Coffee Expo in Melbourne, Australia, from 23 – 26 May. Other winners included Romania Latte Art Championship winner Marius Nica and Coffee in Good Spirits Champion Cristian Coman. Both will compete at the world level during the SCAE World of Coffee Event from 26 to 28 June in Nice, France. La Spaziale was selected as official sponsor of the Romanian National Baristas Competition 2013. During the competitions, competitors used three S9 La Spaziale coffee machines. In a statement, La Spaziale noted that it selected the S9 coffee machines for the competition because of their efficiency and high performance. La Spaziale has had an presence in Bucharest since it opened a brand office in the 1990s. Since the start, the company said that the Romanian venue has focused on technical service quality and on cooperation with top coffee roasters and of Italian coffee.