Mduduzi Lukhuleni named First Ever Deaf Barista Champion.
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In what was undoubtedly a highlight of the JHB Coffee & Chocolate Show, six talented deaf baristas competed in the first ever Deaf Barista Competition at Montecasino, in front of a cheering crowd and the World Coffee Events All Stars, where Mduduzi Lukhuleni was named the overall winner.
Mduduzi, who works as a full-time barista at Spar Bean Tree in Melville, is the first Deaf Barista Champion as he successfully prepared four cappuccinos in his allocated time and succeeded in winning over the judges: George Bertolis (Technical Judge), Esther Maasdam (Sensory Judge and WCE All Star) and Lani Snyman (Head Judge).
The competition was held to raise awareness for the training of deaf people within the barista community and that you can now register for the Short Course in Barista Skills at UNISA, who have introduced this as part of their curriculum.
UNISA are providing a sponsored opportunity for 30 deaf barista candidates to enrol in this course and the coffee community are encouraged to support this potential talent by sponsoring the stipend of a deaf barista (for the duration of their training), to the value of R2 700.
Lavazza and SPAR Bean Tree coffee shops are committed to uplifting South Africa’s Deaf community by training and employing internationally-accredited coffee shop baristas through Ciro Coffee Academy (CCA). Both hearing and hearing-impaired coffee drinkers are now able to connect over a Lavazza coffee.
The Lavazza Training Academy is a part of South Africa and its Barista Upliftment Programme. As Lavazza clients, a select number of SPAR Bean Tree coffee shops now employ several CCA-trained Deaf baristas and offer specially designed sign language menus.
“Deaf baristas – and the sign language menus that enable communication and facilitate ordering at SPAR Bean Tree coffee shops – have been well-received by customers, who get excellent coffee and warm, friendly service,” says Debbie Haswell, SPAR’s group retail operations project manager.
CCA has designed its various specialised coffee courses to accommodate Deaf barista training into their programmes. Trainee baristas are taken through the Speciality Coffee Association of Europe (SCAE) modules, which develop their skills on the history of coffee machines and the coffee-making process, customer engagement, grinding, extracting, milk-texturing, presenting and serving, and maintenance – to name a few.
The St Vincent School for the Deaf and eDeaf are two organisations that assist CCA in recruiting candidates who wish to pursue a career in coffee. After completing their training, CCA also assists with the employment of Deaf barista graduates through its network of clients, including SPAR Bean Tree, to help them launch their careers.
“There are two SPAR Bean Tree offerings – a café, for a sit-down restaurant experience, and an express station that serves convenient coffee to go. In both instances, Deaf candidates can provide all of the services of hearing baristas, as long as they can communicate with their patrons,” adds Nadine Jardim, Lavazza’s marketing manager.
One such Deaf barista is Thabo Albert Mokhele, 39, who completed his barista training at CCA and has served coffee at SPAR Bean Tree in Hobart, Bryanston, for over two years. He says that working as a Deaf person in the service industry isn’t any easier or harder than being a hearing person; it’s simply more interesting.
Mokhele adds, “Working at SPAR Bean Tree coffee shop is a wonderful experience. I am happy when I can serve a customer a hot cup of Lavazza coffee made with love.”
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