In October, Angelica Megumi Rosalinda was announced as the barista champion at the 2019 Starbucks’ Barista Championship beating other female finalists who fought for the same trophy. There is always going to be the winner and loser in the competition but this year barista championship left confidence and promising opportunity for females figure to lead the homegrown coffee industry in the future.
Last year, Starbucks Indonesia also declared female winner Ni Putu Patricia who ruled out the competition over two male candidates.
Over the year, male baristas and coffee experts have been in the leading position in the Indonesian coffee industry to level up the potential of local beans to the mass market, The American coffee brand has pushed the industry forward throughs inclusive competition by opening the opportunity to the potential talent of their barista partners.
Passing the selection from a total of 421 baristas who joined the competition, Angelica Megumi Rosalinda prevailed the final round over her rivals Hanna Chrisanty Jiuo (Jakarta) and Shafira Angelia Shamakh (Bali). Joined Starbucks in 2018, Rosalinda is a shift supervisor at Sogo Pakuwon Surabaya who has shown progressive performance that led her to the top.
As a fan of Kenya Rungeto bean and vanilla Sweet Cream, Rosalinda has been learning about coffee from her trainer. Besides showing her skills and creative coffee concoction on stage, Rosalinda delivered a strong message that has inspired other female barista to pursue this profession. In the industry with predominant male culture, Rosalinda signaled the possibility for women to expand their coffee skills such as brewing, latte artist, and coffee innovation.
“I want to show that a woman at a young age like me could have a career in the coffee industry as the homegrown coffee scene continuously expanding in the last few years. I believe that everything we dream will come true with hard work, prayers, and discipline,” Rosalinda said.
Female baristas could reach their peak potential by joining the international competition as the global coffee chain also organise the international competition at the Asia Pacific level. The public also got a chance to witness all three female baristas who have attempted to knock down the house as the leading coffee company also promotes equality by recruiting disabilities.
“Female baristas have successfully demonstrated their ability as a skillfull barista. This year’s championship has three best finalists which all of them are female baristas. We are
proud to refer them as ‘Srikandi’ Starbucks barista who will continue to international competition,” said Vasilis John Vasiliou, Vice President of Operations at Starbucks Indonesia.
