Hillcrest Barista champ to represent SA in Italy

THE ambitious 30 year old, Craig Charity from Hillcrest has made KwaZulu-Natal proud by becoming the new SA Barista Champion.

He is preparing to head off to Italy for the World Barista Championships early next month. Craig has received lots of support in his role as a coffee ambassador, which included a significant donation from Illovo Sugar SA.

Despite rigorous competition, Craig won top honours in the South African Championships held in November 2013.

With a wealth of experience in the industry as both a barista and a coffee machine technician, as well as his genuine love for coffee, Craig is the ideal ambassador to represent South Africa in the African and International Championships coming up in 2014. Craig is the owner of Lineage Coffee.

According to Marketing Manager for Illovo Sugar SA, Darrell de Wet, the brand is happy to support the burgeoning coffee industry in KwaZulu-Natal and they wish Craig all of the best in his efforts to become the brand new World Barista Champion.

Craig has been in the hospitality industry for five years.

“The schools I attended were quite technical which has helped me as far as the technical side of my business goes. I am a coffee machine technician too. Other than that, I study something pretty obsessively when I am into it, so you could say that I qualified through Google.

“I got into the coffee business by starting a mobile business called Go Coffee with a friend of mine that I sold two years ago,” he said.

Craig said he has been aiming to be a barista champ for a number of years.

“Winning the title is the sum of the effort that I put in over many years.

“I have bought cups from Switzerland, modified Grinders, bought a roaster so I can roast my own coffee, bought coffee from Kenya and flew it out. It was always a close competition, anyone could have won at the end. But I believe that all the effort I have put in added up in the end,” added Craig.

He said he is thankful for Illovo’s sponsorship as their contribution is going to go much further than just him.

“I am doing a series of road shows in Cape Town, JHB, Durban and PE in which I will be teaching the Baristas and cafe owners what is needed to produce incredible cups of coffee consistently. As for me, it has given me the opportunity to head off to Burundi and compete there as well as at the World Championships.