Muffin Break franchise barista a winner

Victorian Cassandra Grant has won the ‘Muffin Break franchise Barista of the Year 2005’ title at the national Muffin Break Barista competition held in Sydney last month. Grant triumphed over four other state finalists to secure the national title, scoring highly in all key areas including preparation, technical competency, craft knowledge, taste and presentation.

“The secret to making great coffee is passion. I love my job and get a buzz from watching customers enjoy their coffee experience. I am very grateful to Muffin Break for this opportunity, and can’t wait to take this great trophy back to my Chadstone franchise,” Grant said.

Judges at the fast food franchise competition included industry veterans Sean Edwards, managing director CafeBiz and editor of Café Culture magazine, Andrew Kremmer, founder and sales manager Saeco Australia, Fred Vains Jahnus, specialty coffee master roaster, and Doug Downer, FoodCo operations and marketing director.

“With Australians’ taste for coffee becoming more sophisticated every year, it’s important our baristas have excellent skills and a passion to match. Cassandra Grant represents the new breed of barista – young (she is 23 years of age), energetic and eager to perfect the art of coffee making.”

The food franchise Barista Of The Year event was the culmination of several months of assessment across all Muffin Break franchises. FoodCo consultants observed baristas at their franchises and selected the best performers as state finalists. These were: Billie Jo Dillon, Bondi Junction, New South Wales; Emily Jane Wilson, Chermside, Queensland; Andrew Easthope, Golden Grove, South Australia; Cassandra Grant, Chadstone, Victoria, and Jeremy Hulsdunk, Mirrabooka, Western Australia.

“Our Barista competition brings key benefits to both the Australian coffee industry and consumers alike,” Downer continued. “By involving all our 134 stores, every store barista had the opportunity to fine-tune their skills. There can only be several state finalists and one national winner, but company-wide involvement means our standard just keeps improving.”