24th Apr 2009 - 00:00
Abstract
Costa has invested over £150,000 on a third Training Academy which launched in Newbury earlier this month.
The new facility supports Costa's existing Training Academies in London and Leeds where its highly skilled baristas are currently coached in the art of coffee making.
Last year, the business trained approximately 2,500 delegates. This year, with the opening of its third academy, it will increase that to approximately 4,500 delegates.
The Training Academy in Newbury will offer baristas, particularly in the south and southwest of England, the chance to master every precise factor that combine to make the perfect cup of coffee with flair, efficiency, speed and consistency. Their skills will be fine tuned in milk frothing, espresso tasting, dosing, grinding, tamping, cleaning, extraction and presentation.
Courses include Barista Maestro programme (weekly), Train to Train course (weekly), and Shooting Stars programme (monthly).
The Barista Maestro programme and Train to Train courses are focused around coffee excellence and achieving, measuring and training to Costa brand standards. The Shooting and Rising Star programmes are management development programmes, which promote team members to assistant manager level or assistant managers to store manager level.
Each academy is mocked up to incorporate the look and feel of a typical Costa store and set up to include a classroom area (which accommodates up to 16 delegates), break out areas for group tasks, technical coffee training areas equipped with two and three group coffee machines all supplied by CMA and grinders supplied by Mazzer.
Will Vernon, Costa's head of operational skills and Brands Standards commented: "At Costa, we are committed to investing in and developing our people. Our reputation is founded on our focus on excellence and this lies in the skills of our baristas and the handcrafted coffees they create every day."