The Chinese government regularly updates its list of official occupations in China to help it regulate and track the development of each occupation's specific situation, CRI reports. Personally, I like that "barista" (experts in preparing specialty coffee) made the list, since I am in the process of identifying barista staff for our own cafe, which will open in a few months.
Unfortunately, the vast majority of customers out there will see a barista more as a 'fu wu yuan', which is a sort of waiter/waitress, but with some definite cultural tags. I would not expect a Chinese restaurant server to engage me, make sure my drink is good, and (most importantly) take pride in what they do. The typical Chinese server just does what they are told, and if they are not told anything, they do not do anything.
This is all about customer service really. Not only do I think that Chinese servers could really use a big dose of customer service training, but there is a complete lack of pride in the occupation. It is a very low-paying job, and the kind of people this job attracts are just not what I would think of as barista material.
Ok, so I pick somebody else. The real problem is the customers. Customers treat regular servers as exactly that: servers...servants. Repeat with me, "the barista is your friend." Some how, I do not think it will be that easy to convince customers that barsitas are something different.
But then again, the potential baristas I have been talking to would be perfect. They have the confidence to suggest that they are not a server (in the 'fu wu yuan' sense of the word) and can show the excellence of their occupation in the way they work. All along, I have had a few people in mind that would be excellent for the job, but I figured working in a cafe would not be on their list of priorities. I feared they were above the occupation, at least, in their minds.
I was pleasantly surprised to find it not so. Two folks in particular, the best two I can think of, were both interested. One big draw is working in a foreign work environment. Boiled down, that means "English". Fair enough. They will need some anyway to be able to work with the foreign and local customers. And if that is the secret weapon to finding those confident and talented baristas, I will use it to it fullest potential.
These baristas are a big key to opening up the local coffee culture. We will be defining what the local coffee culture is.
