The annual Starbucks Barista Competition in Bulgaria was held on July 29th in Sofia. The Barista Championship brought together representatives of all brand sites from around the country to showcase their mastery in coffee specialties. The 12 Championship contenders competed at Starbucks Ring Mall on Monday.

Throughout the day, the contestants showed off their Starbucks beverage skills as well as their own brand-inspired creations. From 10 AM to 5 PM the young girls and boys showed that each of them was worthy of the title Barista Champion 2019. At the end of the day the winner became clear: Lyubomir Panayotov, who since October 2017 is part of the family of Starbucks and introduced the Serdica Center team.

"Barista Champion not only means you are the best at making drinks. It means that you have an attitude towards them, that you love what you do and you appreciate the qualities of coffee, "said Ivan Georgiev, Starbucks regional manager for Bulgaria. "It is a pleasure for us to gather our best baristas every year. The winner will represent Bulgaria at the international competition in London. He will also visit Starbucks Reserve Milano Roastery - a special place where we store and draw inspiration from rare and special coffees", he said.