The 2015 Master Bar Academy Programme by Diageo has been raising the bar for Nigerian bartenders. The brainchild of Mark Barrett, Spirits Capability Manager for Diageo Africa the parent company of Guinness Nigeria Plc, he created the academy after visiting bars and clubs in Africa and meeting with a skill gap.
To help address this Diageo launched Africa’s largest bartending programme -The Master Bar Academy. Since its inception, the academy has helped to train more than 26,000 bartenders across 14 African countries. Thanks to the Master Bar Academy Programme, 1,000 Nigerian Bartenders have also been equipped with world class skills they need to improve their service and build successful careers as bartenders.
As part of the programme, also known as MBA, each bartender is enrolled in a three-month course consisting of three modules covering core bartending themes like: customer service, the art of bartending, tools of the trade, bartender secrets, drink categories, spirit production, brand knowledge, perfect serves, counterfeit spotting, up selling and responsible serving.
The success of the Master Bar Programme in Nigeria and Africa has been a tremendous inspiration for Barrett, who said the response has been amazing across all countries they have visited.
“It is very encouraging to note that this programme has helped to raise the standards of bartending in Africa. I have been struck by the passion and energy participants of the Nigeria MBA programme have shown and I trust that this training will equip them with the skills they need to raise the bar behind their respective bars,” he said.
The Diageo MBA programme also underpins Guinness Nigeria’s broader skills acquisition initiative which has helped many Nigerian youths to build valuable skills they need to enhance their employability and improve their livelihoods. Guinness Nigeria currently runs a scholarship scheme which supports undergraduates studying in Nigerian Universities. The company has also awarded scholarships that enabled many young Nigerians to study in reputable technical institutes where they gained valuable engineering and technical education.
The 2015 MBA programme was launched with an advanced one-day master class programme (MBA 303) organised for beneficiaries of previously organised basic and intermediate programmes. At the end of the advanced programme, five highly skilled bartenders were selected to compete in a live finale which tested the cocktail skills of the contestants. At the end of the closely contested finale, Michael Toriola emerged overall winner of the competition winning $1,000, an iPad loaded with cocktail apps, as well as MBA cocktail set.
“We are proud of the part we are playing to celebrate exceptional bartending skills. We are recognising our winner today, but at the same time, we are helping to build the skills of all participants. In the coming days, we look forward to giving more opportunities to an additional 1, 000 Nigerian bartenders,” said the General Manager, Diageo Brands Nigeria, Neil Comerford, while presenting the prize to the winner.
Toriola will be tutored to qualify and represent Nigeria at the World Class Bartending Competition which will hold in South Africa later this year.
