World Barista Championship sponsors: Do they limit creativity?

The World Barista Championship remains one of the biggest and most well-known platforms for international coffee professionals to showcase their skills and expertise. This year’s competition was held at the first-ever World of Coffee Asia event in Busan, South Korea from 1 to 4 May 2024.

Running such an established competition means organisers need access to a lot of high-quality equipment. Although competitors must also bring their own (especially for the signature beverage round), organisers supply them with the more significant pieces of equipment – particularly espresso machines and grinders.

But providing dozens of baristas with these machines is expensive. To massively reduce costs, the Specialty Coffee Association partners with sponsors who supply a range of equipment. Simply put, the WBC wouldn’t happen without these sponsorships.

This then means, however, that competitors have to use certain espresso machines and grinders. While there are some benefits to this system – especially providing equal access to high-quality equipment – there are disadvantages, too.

One of the biggest concerns is that sponsors could limit competitors’ creativity and ability to perform at their best. To find out more, I spoke to Benjamin Put, co-founder of Monogram Coffee, Cinzia Pietrobon, Brand & Product Manager at Barista Attitude, and Yannis Apostolopoulos, CEO of the SCA.

You may also like our article on whether we need to reconsider judging and scoring for the WBC.

Why does the World Barista Championship need sponsors?

There is no denying the popularity of the World Barista Championship. First held in 2000, the competition has grown to become an integral part of the specialty coffee industry.

Sponsors are undoubtedly an important part of the event and its organisation – providing costly equipment and essential funding. Without them, it would be impossible for the SCA to host the competition in a different country every year.

Yannis Apostolopoulos is the CEO of the SCA. He explains the different kinds of sponsors needed to organise the WBC.

“It wouldn’t be possible to run national and World Coffee Championships (WCC) without the support of sponsors, and the same is true for volunteers, judges, national event organisers, and so many others in our community,” he says. “The level of WCC sponsorship ranges from recognising their support to using their products on competition stages or WCC bars to multi-year partnerships through our Qualified or Official Sponsorship positions.”  

The SCA’s sponsorship selection process is based on a number of different criteria:

• Manufacturers must submit their equipment and products to undergo a rigorous testing process
• Qualified sponsor candidates must provide a standardised set of equipment for competitors to use on stage
• Each application is evaluated based on machine testing, capacity for financial support, the ability to support the WBC community, and whether the company aligns with the SCA’s mission

“The Qualified and Official Sponsor positions are open every few years, and we take a wide range of factors into consideration,” Yannis tells me. “These include the sponsor’s ability to support each event, whether they have a global distribution network, and their general commitment to supporting the industry.

“If we have research-led standards, machine testing is also taken into consideration,” he adds.

What equipment do sponsors provide?

The World Barista Championship has several sponsorship opportunities, but none are arguably more impactful on the format of the competition than the espresso machine and grinder sponsors.

Barista Attitude’s Tempesta espresso machine and Victoria Arduino’s Mythos ​​MY75 grinder were selected as the 2022-25 qualified sponsors. These machines replaced the popular Mahlkönig Peak and EK43 (S) grinders and Victoria Arduino’s VA388 Black Eagle espresso machine.

Ben Put is a co-founder of Monogram Coffee in Calgary, Canada and a seasoned WBC competitor.

“Events of this scale need sponsorship money to operate at their current level,” he says. “For sponsor companies, it’s a great tool to get your equipment into the hands and minds of some of the best coffee professionals in the industry.”

All WBC competitors use the same espresso machine and grinder which (in theory) creates a more even playing field. However, as Ben points out, this means baristas need to have already used the equipment before.

“Every machine has a slightly different design, especially steam wands, so there is a big advantage to being familiar with the sponsorship equipment,” he says. “But many sponsors put forth machines that are either simple to use or easy to learn to use, so the learning curve isn’t too steep.

“Moreover, the alternative to using sponsored machines could be using suboptimal equipment that requires baristas to have more knowledge and expertise to achieve optimal results,” he adds.

Although the WBC is open to competitors from around the world, there is an inevitable bias when it comes to practising with sponsored equipment. It’s likely that baristas from more economically developed countries will have better access to the sponsor espresso machine and grinder – largely because companies will have more established distribution channels in these regions.

Does sponsorship benefit competitors and their creativity?

Although there is a very practical need for WBC sponsors, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they benefit competitors’ performances. The format of the championship means baristas must compete in a tightly controlled and high-pressure environment, so the equipment they use is an extension of their skills and creativity.

“The format of the competition is designed to showcase and celebrate many diverse ideas that frame a competitor’s (and their supporting team’s) idea of quality,” Yannis says. “But creativity doesn’t exist in a vacuum – all kinds of innovation come from having some kind of limitations in place.”

When the SCA announced the 2022-25 sponsors, many expressed concerns about losing the ability to use two different grinders and to use single-dose grinding. These concerns were addressed when Victoria Arduino designed a single-dose funnel specifically for its Mythos grinders, but it’s a clear example of how changes to sponsored equipment can impact competitors’ performances.

Cinzia Pietrobon is the Brand & Product Manager at Barista Attitude – a premium espresso machine manufacturer and WBC sponsor.

“Baristas who compete in these competitive conditions can develop their creativity more, even stepping out of their comfort zone to experiment with new techniques,” she says. “Having sponsor machines means competitors can perform at their best.”

Ben, meanwhile, believes that equipment shouldn’t affect a competitor’s performance.

“A creative barista should be able to work their routine and overall concept around the machines and grinders they have to use,” he says. “The World Barista Championship is about so much more than just the equipment on the table.”

How could the World Barista Championship sponsorship change?

With the 2025 WBC set to take place from 17 to 21 October in Milan, Italy, it will be interesting to see how the qualified sponsorship selection could change for the 2026-29 competition run.

According to Ben, the grinder sponsor in particular could play a key role in shaping the future of the event.

“Grinders are the most dynamic sponsorship category at the moment, with new technology constantly on the market,” he says. “I would be excited to see manufacturers vie for sponsorship to showcase their latest innovations.

“I think a wares sponsorship would be really interesting, too,” he adds. “Sponsors could provide cups, scales, water glasses, cloths, servers, and other similar items. This could help competitors reduce the luggage they bring with them, minimise waste, and the wares could be donated afterwards.”

Innovation vs. dependability

Ultimately, Ben believes espresso machines and grinders will both have a huge influence over how the WBC evolves over time.

“Will the focus be on using the latest cutting-edge technology that may not be available in many countries or will we use time-tested machines that might not push the competition forward as much?” he asks.

Sponsors are an essential part of the WBC, but it’s still important to question whether they can limit the creativity of competitors. Although excellent baristas should be able to adapt to using different machines and technologies, we still need to be realistic and acknowledge that not all competitors will have equal access to the same equipment.

Opinions will remain divided and there is no clear answer to the question – which makes it even more interesting to see how the WBC and its equipment sponsors will change in the future.

Enjoyed this? Then read our article on the story of the World Barista Championship.

Photo credits: Specialty Coffee Association, World Coffee Events

Perfect Daily Grind

Want to read more articles like this? Sign up for our newsletter!