TRAINING & EDUCATION FEATURE
Each Grinders training session is catered to the individual attendee’s needs and skill level.
The A-Team
As one of Australia’s leading coffee roasters, Grinders Coffee prides itself on the extensive crop to cup coffee education and training program it offers to its customers.
A
passion for the coffee industry, a wealth of knowledge, and the drive to see their customers succeed are all elements that bind Grinders Coffee and their team of specialists. The bespoke program offers a tiered training that meets the needs of their customers, from building their confidence and knowledge with equipment to helping create recipes and latte art that impress and amaze. The customer is at the heart of Grinders’ training specialists who focus on building strong and lasting partnerships with customers and are commited to delivering the highest quality coffee with passion and expertise. The course is centred around engaging and connecting through the language of coffee, while doing better for the planet. The team of specialists include Grinders Coffee Brand Ambassador, Jonathan ‘Jono’ Goldthorpe, Senior coffee specialist Glenn Bailey, Alec Zeta, and Dale Pollard, who all bring a wealth of knowledge and industry experience to the new program.
60
beanscenemag.com.au
“In early 2020, we evaluated our training program based on customer feedback and input from our sales team and our baristas,” says Glenn Bailey, Senior Coffee Specialist for South Australia, Northern Territory, and Western Australia. “We wanted to really maximise the time we, as coffee specialists, have with each client, and meet our customers’ and cafes’ current demands.” Grinders’ new training program offers in class or in venue training and features shorter sessions that are broken down into Fundamental, Intermediate, and Advanced levels. When hosted at each Grinders’ state training centre, the classes are aligned to each state government COVID rules and restrictions. Lasting four hours, the Fundamental session focuses on building the customer’s confidence, covering the crop to cup journey, different areas of the coffee station, and the process behind making coffee. The 2.5-hour Intermediate session looks at honing attendees’ skills, focusing more in-depth on the coffee station, managing orders in a busy café,
and latte art training. “We also added training for workflow and operational speed, which makes the session also suited for shift leaders, supervisors, and head baristas, who have the fundamental skills set and the ability to coach others,” says Glenn. The Advanced session, which is also 2.5 hours, aims to polish the barista’s skills, examining the science behind coffee flavour, perfecting latte art, and machine maintenance. Each class is designed for only four pupils, ensuring trainers can tailor the session and focus on each barista. Grinders now offers an Onsite Training, which are 45 minutes to onehour sessions at a customer’s venue, focusing on refining core skill sets in a limited class of three baristas. “Being in the industry for 18 years, you realise the impact a single barista can have on a cup of coffee and the overall café experience. My passion in this industry is seeing people grow their cafés and sustain their business,” says Glenn. “I enjoy teaching venues how to maximise revenue out of a bag of coffee and I particularly love onsite training and
