Barista & Farmer: Bogdan Prokopchuk, from Moscow, wins the second edition
16.02.2015
After ten days in Honduras, russian Prokopchuk ended up being the best barista. Second place for Stephany Davila (Guatemala) and third for italian Sandro Bonacchi.
Russian contender Bogdan Prokopchuk, 21 years old from Moscow, won the second edition of Barista & Farmer, the talent show dedicated to quality coffee which took place in Honduras this february (2-11). The reality show was created by Francesco Sanapo and produced by Rimini Fiera.
Ten top baristas, chosen from among 200 applications, took part in the second edition. The russian barista ranked in first place after winning several challenges and picking the highest quantity of coffee. In the ten days of the show, the total amount of coffee was 1140 kilos. Two were the fincas who hosted the challenges: Santa Isabel, in Copan, owned by the Welchez family and the cooperative Las Capucas, managed by Omar Rodriguez, who gathers 850 small coffee producers. The award was given by a jury composed by Andrej Godina (Scae Italy taster), Alberto Polojac (director of the academy of Barista & Farmer) and Scott Conary (president of the Scaa competitions). Second place went to guatemalan Stephany Davila (who also received the title of Barista & Farmer ambassador) while italian Sandro Bonacchi ended up third. A special award as “best story” was granted by the jury to french Juliel Latil who decided to quit his job, in the assurance field, to be part of the talent show and later open his own coffee shop. Panuwat Yoosakda, from Thailand, won the award for “best latte art”.
The biggest novelty in this second edition of the reality show, besides the changing of location (which switched from Puerto Rico to Honduras) was the international cast of contenders, after a first season entirely made of italians. Contenders were italians Patrick Sinapi, Deborah Cesanelli as well as Panuwat Yoosakda (Thailand), Angelica Madrigal (Colombia), Agustina roman (Argentina), Julian Dammanhayn (Australia), Julien Latil (France) and Bogdan Prokopchuk (Russia).
After being recounted on the social networks, the second edition of Barista & Farmer will become a documentary. The images will be enriched by the music of Guillermo Anderson, local music icon and cultural ambassador of Honduras and italian reggae masters Sud Sound System.
“Victory is not only mine – said Prokopchuk – but goes to all the team. I'm very proud of my team mates, it was great to work alltogether, share the same house, eat at the same table every evening. Now I'm going home, I miss my friends and my family: in Russia i will tell to my customers and my coworkers about this amazing experience and of how many hands have to work in order to have a cup of coffee. I think it's very important.”
“It's been an extraordinary edition – said creator Francesco Sanapo – thanks to the mixture of cultures: a group of guys who experienced the real life of a farmer. This generated incredible interactions, way better that anything we could have imagined. The winner is the one who showed the most the will to grow professionally and to interact with the others. He came here as a shy guy and left us full of joy and harmony because he learned something and he was able to apprehend different cultures. We are already evaluating applications for the next edition: tomorrow we will go to Guatemala and then in Salvador, but it's too early to tell where it will take place.”
Rimini Fiera business unit manager Patrizia Cecchi says, “I am very proud of this edition of Barista & Farmer and also convinced that the experience in Honduras will enable speciality coffee and quality coffee to become the driving force for the development of the entire product chain. A chain that, starting with the training of those in the trade in the countries of origin, leads to the highlighting of the excellence of manufacturers of innovative technology and on to new cafeteria formats, able to promote greater consumer awareness. All this stimulates the launch of further business opportunities, of which SIGEP and Rimini Coffee Festival are ambassadors, supporting new trends in the lifestyle of countries consuming coffee.”
Barista & Farmer is a project created by Francesco Sanapo, in collaborarion with Rimini Fiera - SIGEP Salone Internazionale Gelateria Pasticceria e Panificazione artigianale, with the patronage of SCAE Speciality Coffee Association of Europe; in collaboration with Cafè de Honduras, IHCAFE Istituto Hondureno del Cafe, HWC Honduran Western Coffee’s Beneficio Santa Rosa; hosted by Finca Santa Isabel, Cooperativa Las Capucas. Thanks to: our main sponsor La Cimbali, Faema, Mumac Academy; event sponsors Genovese Coffee, Caffè Corsini, Caffè Pascucci, Molino Quaglia, Quarta Caffè; supporters Puly Caff, Cafeistas, Café Reserva, Costadoro, 9 Bar, Imperator, Umami Coffee Campus. Golden media partner Barista Magazine, Bargiornale; media partner BeanScene, Global Coffee Review, Pasticceria Internazionale, Punto IT.
A presskit with videos and photos of Barista & Farmer can be downloaded at the following link. The dropbox is updated everyday.
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/r8cycadduhocuj4/AACpG7oI7TcjryMVxWNIgneTa?dl=0
