The spotlights at the Nordic World of Coffee are shining on the best baristas in the world, who are battling it out to see who will capture the title of new World Latte Art champion and World Coffee in Good Spirits champion. Years of work and dedication are condensed into an exhibition that lasts just a few minutes, where every detail counts. Plus4Champions is their travelling companion in this exciting challenge. At the competition stations in the training area and at the espresso bar, the most coveted Astoria machine is captivating the coffee community with its fantastic personalized details, under the watchful eye of the Astoria team. Paolo Girardi, head of customer service and training, tells us how the preparation for the event took place.
“The installation of the Plus4You machines started Saturday afternoon: it was a tough job because we set up all of 12 machines. Everything went according to plan and our team managed to get it done in time, also thanks to the careful planning we carried out before the event. On Monday the baristas started getting familiar with the machines and were asking for information on the settings. They were very impressed by the custom jobs on the Plus4Champions: the variety of styles we represented satisfied all tastes but of course, everyone has their favorite! The limited edition also caught the attention of clients and now we can say that the machines used in Gothenburg are going like hotcakes.
Some of the baristas had already had the chance to test the machine during the training sessions we organized in company – with the participation of finalists who come not only from Italy but also from Germany, Switzerland and Russia – and during the campus we set up these last several days at our local distributor’s, in which many Asian baristas took part. The champions appreciated the improvements we made to the machine to prepare for the finals, including the levers for the filter holders and the steam, which were improved in terms of ergonomics and materials. Tuesday morning the tension rose in the wait for the first extraction: fortunately everything went as we had hoped and we can say that the second day is definitely more relaxing for me, Jason and Neil!”.