DUBAI // The best baristas in Asia and the Middle East gathered in Dubai yesterday in a bid to be crowned the king of coffee.
The 12 Costa staff served up hot or cold cups of coffee mixed with everything from orange juice to After Eight chocolate as part of a two-day competition at Le Royal Meridien hotel. Each of the finalists in the Middle East and Asia Barista of the Year competition had won national competitions in countries including Oman, Cambodia and Kazakhstan.
“What we see here is the creme de la creme,” said Judd Williams, director of Middle East and Asia at Costa. “They are all champions of the countries where they come from.”
The first-day finals involved making espressos and lattes at speed, as well as fixing a broken coffee machine.
Andy Marshall, the managing director of Costa’s international franchise network, said the judges had to taste about 44 cups of coffees on the first day. “God bless them, the judges yesterday were as high as kites on caffeine,” he said.
Thankfully for the judging team, the second day of the contest involved tasting no more than 11 cups, with each competitor making their own signature coffee based on a recipe of their choosing.
Lasantha Pigera, 25, one of two UAE baristas taking part, created a cold coffee made with ginger, lemongrass and white chocolate. Mr Pigera tested his brew out on colleagues, and occasionally customers, before the competition.
“I had to go outside the shop to find the ingredients,” he said. “It took me about 50 or 60 attempts to make the syrup just right.
“I listened to a lot of feedback from people and made adjustments. The challenge is to not listen to people in the last week before the competition because everyone says something different and it can affect your confidence.”
Mr Marshall said the creation, called ginger lemesso was “a nice after dinner drink”.
“I thought the lemongrass would overpower it but it’s very balanced,” he said.
After last year’s competition, Costa began selling a rose-flavoured mocha made by one of its champion baristas.
Mr Marshall said discovering new tastes and combinations was part of the reasons for holding the competition. “We’re looking for real innovation in how they take our coffee and turn it into a speciality drink,” he said. “If we find some great drinks, we’ll bring them into shops.
“This isn’t just a game for our people to make them feel good. There’s a reality where we can turn their great thinking into fantastic products.”
In addition, he said the competition helped improve staff morale.
“If we can give them more passion and excitement about the product, then they’ll look forward to getting up to go to work,” he added.
This year’s winner was Jonathan Kahano, a Filipino who works at the Costa branch in Saudi Arabia’s Dammam Airport. He will now travel to the Costa World Championship in London on October 22 where he will compete against baristas from China, Europe and the UK.
The first prize for becoming world champion is a trip to any coffee growing country in the world.
“You won’t be surprised that most people choose Brazil and then spend their holiday in Rio,” said Mr Marshall.
“However, the most important thing for people who take part is just to raise the trophy and show that they are the best.”
mcroucher@thenational.ae
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
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In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Results
4pm: Maiden; Dh165,000 (Dirt); 1,400m
Winner: Solar Shower; William Lee (jockey); Helal Al Alawi (trainer)
4.35pm: Handicap; Dh165,000 (D); 2,000m
Winner: Thaaqib; Antonio Fresu; Erwan Charpy.
5.10pm: Maiden; Dh165,000 (Turf); 1,800m
Winner: Bila Shak; Adrie de Vries; Fawzi Nass
5.45pm: Handicap; Dh175,000 (D); 1,200m
Winner: Beachcomber Bay; Richard Mullen; Satish Seemar
6.20pm: Handicap; Dh205,000 (T); 1,800m
Winner: Muzdawaj; Jim Crowley; Musabah Al Muhairi
6.55pm: Handicap; Dh185,000 (D); 1,600m
Winner: Mazeed; Tadhg O’Shea; Satish Seemar
7.30pm: Handicap; Dh205,000 (T); 1,200m
Winner: Riflescope; Tadhg O’Shea; Satish Seemar.
