Is a Barista a Waiter? What's the Difference Between a Barista and a Waiter?

Have you ever accidentally called a barista a "waiter"?

— First question to all the coffee enthusiasts here

When you're called a "waiter" by customers, does it affect you internally?

— Next question to all the baristas and coffee shop owners here

(Pause for 2 seconds) Today, let's dive into this topic.

The Significance of Coffee Competitions

Everyone has probably heard of the annual WBC (World Barista Championship), right?

The competition aims to discover and guide coffee trends, spread coffee culture, and provide a platform for professional baristas worldwide to perform, compete, and exchange ideas. It's about launching higher quality coffee and promoting the professionalization of baristas. The competition is a microcosm of the specialty coffee ecosystem, profoundly influencing the future development of the coffee industry.

The Barista

The profession of a barista cannot be explained in just a few words. Without them,

you would rarely find good coffee, and you'd have little opportunity to understand the story behind each cup.

A barista's role is multifaceted—not limited to just one aspect: making coffee, spreading coffee culture, serving customers, and more.

However, not everyone who can make coffee is a barista.

A qualified barista needs to understand how to use equipment;

needs to know about coffee bean origins, flavors, and how to brew a coffee that truly represents those bean characteristics.

Baristas need to continuously pursue self-improvement. If you don't strive for better and more, you might mistakenly believe that you're already doing your best.

Coffee Service Standards?

Facing professional judges on stage versus dealing with regular consumers in daily shop operations are different scenarios. A coffee shop is a place that sells coffee, but it provides much more than just the value of a cup of coffee.

Some customers are very interested in the coffee-making process, while others just want a refreshing drink.

I believe there is no one-size-fits-all service standard for coffee.

The Waiter

Broadly speaking, the entire tertiary industry is the service industry—a waiter is someone engaged in the service industry:

"Service is work or an economic activity performed by individuals or social organizations for consumers, directly or through certain tools, equipment, facilities, or media;

it is provided to individual consumers or enterprises to meet specific needs, and its production may or may not be related to material products,

it adds value to individuals, goods, or services of other economic units, mainly manifested as use value or utility in the form of activities."

Originally, a waiter referred to personnel providing services within a fixed scope in a fixed location.

Any frontline personnel in retail service can be called a waiter.

"Can a waiter become a barista?" "Is a barista a waiter?" "Can a kitchen assistant become a head chef?"...

These questions are questioning the questions behind them.

OK, let's rephrase this—not saying "a barista is just a waiter,"

but saying "a barista is a type of waiter"~

Is a Robot Barista a Waiter?

With technological development, we now have robot baristas.

But I want to emphasize: NO!

There's nothing that can replace a barista, neither AI nor robots can~

Skills can always be surpassed by machines, but service and human touch cannot.

A barista is a service provider, but not just a simple waiter.

There's nothing wrong with positioning a barista as a service provider, but we cannot limit them to just being waiters.

Image source: Internet

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