I have just arrived home to Melbourne from Ho Chi Minh City, after an exciting week at the 2011 Vietnam National Barista Championships.
I was invited up to Vietnam as Head Judge, after visiting Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh earlier in the month to calibrate the baristas and judges.
The Championships were managed by Singapore Exhibition Services as part of Food and Hotel Vietnam, which attracted more than 360 companies from 31 different countries.
The event went extremely well and with 17 of Vietman’s best baristas from all over the country competing, I was thrilled with the standard of the competitors and the overall event.
With the following judges by my side: Sean Edwards (Australia); Ross Bright (Singapore); Mee chai (Thailand); Danny Pang (Singapore); there was a wealth of experience from domestic to WBC level. This certainly assisted the baristas’ performance, and we encouraged them all to perform at their best.
After 2 full days of heats, we came to the final on the third day, with 5 baristas all
wanting to achieve the ultimate – becoming
Vietnam’s champion barista!
The five finalists were:
Nguyen Quoc Viet – Scoozi Coffee;
Le Duc Huy – Trung Nguyen;
Do Hoang Nhat Anh – Dang Le;
Pham Van Quyen – KOTO Hanoi;
Nguyen Dinh Hai – Highlands Coffee.
I have been involved in KOTO Hanoi and Saigon over this past 12 months and am very grateful for this opportunity and the experience provide by Box Hill Institute in Melbourne.
Box Hill Institute conducted a fundraising event in August this year and raised money to assist the KOTO kids to participate in the VBC. The monies went to buying all their equipment required for the competition, airfares and accommodation from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City.
We have some funds left for a coffee study tour for the KOTO kids in 2012, where they will travel to the coffee plantations to educate themselves regarding all things coffee.
I would like to personally congratulate both Pham Van Quyen and Le Thanh Thuy from KOTO Hanoi on their achievements. Pham Van Quyen made the top 5 in the final and was 4th overall in Vietnam – what a great effort!
Also, a big thanks to all the students from KOTO Saigon for assisting around the stage; without your help we wouldn’t have had a competition.
Another big thank you to all the people who donated to the Vietnamese Coffee Experience at Box Hill Institute, as without your support, both Van and Thuy would not have been able to fly from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City and compete.
To Van and Thuy, it is a very proud moment. Congratulations to you both, and I look forward to visiting Vietnam next year for the coffee study tour.
