Haskins Garden Centre raises coffee cup to ‘Barista of the Year’

Charley Stoker, from Haskins Garden Centre in West End, has ‘bean’ announced as the firm’s Barista of the Year, after going head-to-head with team members.

Haskins hosts the annual competition to demonstrate the company’s dedication to coffee and to create a forum for team members from its centres based across the south, to learn from each other. Across all four garden centres, 1.2million hot drinks are sold each year which makes up 30 per cent of the total restaurant sales, and seven per cent of the total sales for the company.

Ben Harrison, Group Catering Manager at Haskins, explained: “We take our coffee very seriously and made the decision to invest in our hot drink offering to ensure that our customers enjoy an expertly-made drink every time. Therefore, we are very proud to serve Costa Coffee in all our centres and we equally invest in staff training to ensure our baristas meet Costa’s quality and taste standards, including our own. 

“At Haskins, we are always looking for new ways to give back to our team and recognise their achievements so we were keen to champion the varied skills of our baristas.”

Each of Haskins’ four centres selects two finalists who compete by making specific drink orders for Costa’s representatives to judge. The winner is then chosen by Costa’s trusted judges.