World Coffee Events (WCE) announced on 21 November that the Victoria Arduino VA388 Black Eagle is the Official Espresso Machine of the 2015 – 2017 World Barista Championship (WBC). The Black Eagle is one of the latest releases by Italian espresso machine manufacturer Nuova Simonelli. This will be the third consecutive, three-year sponsorship arrangement that the company has secured for the WBC. WCE also announced that Mahlkoenig has maintained its grinder sponsorship status, with its K30 Vario, K30 Twin, and EK43 to take the spotlight on the WBC stage. WCE made the exciting announcement that Cafetto has come on board as a top sponsor, with its EVO line as the Official Espresso Machine Cleaner. This is the first time that an Australian company has been named among the top-tier sponsors of the prestigious global coffee competition. “Each of these companies shares a strong commitment to advancing specialty coffee by supporting this premier WBC event,” said Cindy Ludviksen, World Coffee Events Managing Director, in a statement. “We are honoured to work together with them for these next three years to pursue our common goal of promoting coffee excellence worldwide.” Nuova Simonelli released a simultaneous statement with the WCE, outlining the rigorous testing standards its machine had to undergo to be named Official Machine Sponsor of the WBC. “This accomplishment is the result of a commitment undertaken for several years in the field of technological innovation through the active collaboration with various research centres, universities and international experts in the world of coffee,” said Nando Ottavi, CEO of Nuova Simonelli, in a statement.
The Black Eagle features Nuova Simonelli’s T3 technology, that ensures standards of accuracy in terms of extraction, flexibility, control and thermal stability. Much of this technology was developed following Nuova Simonelli’s experience in sponsoring the WBC, and working with past world champions.
