Australian coffee culture produces 10th fastest growing profession!

We all know that Australians love a good coffee. Many people around the world even call us coffee snobs! So it is no surprise that our thriving coffee scene has produced Australia’s 10^th fastest growing profession, the barista.

Almond Breeze’s first Australian Barista Census has revealed that Australia’s café culture brings 3,100 new baristas to Australia each year, 82% of which work in independent cafés. This is something very “Australian” with a majority of people living in other countries such as the US preferring to enjoy their coffee from branded coffee shops, like Starbucks.

To work as a barista in Australia you must be willing to adapt to the environment and be creative with your coffee. In Australia 96% of cafes offer alternative milks, 65% offer customers a discount if they bring in their keep cup and 56% of cafes use only recyclable takeaway cups. Not only do baristas have to work their magic with these varying milk types but they will also have a variety of different cup sizes to work with each and every day. Latte, piccolo, long black, espresso anyone?

The biggest challenge facing Australian baristas is low wages. However, many stated that they worry about the lack of additional training available and whether injuries sustained at work will be covered by any sort of work cover.

Almond Breeze has developed its own online forum to listen, educate and provide Australian baristas with the essential information they will need as they grow their career. The online platform offers training courses, networking events, business advice and a job search function all of which provide baristas with the support they need to excel in their chosen field.

This online forum provides a place that baristas can go to find further training, industry peers and seek help and advice on work matters. It is a great initiate that will hopefully help the Australian coffee scene only grow better! Bravo Almond Breeze, bravo!

References

Baristas for Baristas 2019, ‘Welcome’ & ‘We Mean Business’, About & Business, viewed 14/03/2019 <https://www.baristasforbaristas.com/business/>

Bean Scene Magazine 2019, ‘Australian Barista Census reveals what keeps baristas up at night’, Coffee News, viewed 14/03/19 <https://www.beanscenemag.com.au/australian-barista-census-reveals-keeps-baristas-night/>

Bean Scene Magazine 2019, ‘Almond Breeze launches Baristas for baristas’, viewed 14/03/2019 <https://www.beanscenemag.com.au/almond-breeze-launches-baristas-baristas/>