Key Responsibilities:

• Technical Skills/ Sensory Skills
• Extraction Theory
• ‘Origin Theory’
• Customer Service
• Housekeeping
• Operating as a team player/ Taking instructions and orders on board
• Professionalism/ Punctuality/ Reliability
• Vigilance of Product expiry dates
• Initiative & Taking on Responsibilities

Other technical skills of a barista include:

• Latte art
• Pour Over/ filter coffee brewing knowledge
• Maintenance/ cleaning of grinders and espresso machines
• Maintenance of equipment, particularly very regular cleaning of grinders, is essential to keeping cup quality high and off-flavours at bay.

Extraction Theory:

• Understanding extraction theory is integral to bringing the best out of a particular lot and providing customers with a high-quality product.

For example;

• Hotter water = higher extraction, cooler water = lower extraction
• Finer grind-size = higher/ faster extraction, coarser grind-size = lower/ courser extraction.
• Higher dose: yield ratio = higher extraction %, lower dose: yield ratio = lower extraction %.
• A lower ratio can result in a more syrupy, thicker texture, while a higher one is thinner, more tea-like, with less body.
•  A higher ratio can help round out the intensity of an espresso shot.
• Higher water temperature equals a faster flow rate or lower contact time

There is constantly new data coming out in extraction theory and there is always more to learn.

Origin Theory

Learning about different coffees and their origin/ terroir, varietal, process, altitude, etc helps us understand what we might expect in a coffee flavour-wise, and what we might need to do to dial it in, how to achieve these flavours, but its also essential from a retail/ sales point of view.

If a customer needs help purchasing coffee beans, we need to know what coffee might suit their palate best, based on the characteristics they tell us they like.

Customer Service

As important as the final product is, and baristas having the theory/extraction/origin knowledge to set us apart from other cafes, it all falls apart if the customer service is below par.

Customers need to be welcomed into a clean cafe, floors swept, tables wiped regularly, and greeted on arrival with eye contact and a smile.

As a customer, it is immediately apparent when a barista is disinterested in their job, or providing good customer service. Where service is poor when the customer is ordering, the product almost inevitably follows a similar standard (placebo or not).

It needs to come from within that a barista truly is interested in cultivating and maintaining an inviting atmosphere when their customers visit the cafe.

Something that can fall within this same skills criteria is dealing with unhappy or disgruntled customers in a calm and pleasant way that makes them feel heard and considered, should there be any conflict.

It’s important to try and converse with customers in a personal/ tailored way while you take their order, that makes the interaction feel like a friendly conversation rather than them being a unit on a conveyor belt. Small gestures go a long way - as an example, if you notice a customer orders a sandwich to have in, with no coffee/ tea/ cold drink, offer them a glass of tap water.

Housekeeping

Maintaining a clean cafe environment is paramount.

Staff need to be of the mindset not to be content to stand around during periods where there aren’t any customers in the shop - this is a commercial space with lots of traffic - this means there are always surfaces and floors to be kept clean in this dynamic environment.

This means that reasonable orders from management regarding cleaning tasks or reorganisation should be taken on board and completed to our high standard as soon as possible.

During the day, customer tables should be routinely checked and cleaned. Shelves and cupboards behind the bar should be sprayed and wiped during any dip in busyness. Floors - both behind the bar and in customer areas - should be checked and swept if necessary.

When closing, the cafe should be left spotless ready for the opening team in the morning. Fridges should be left cleaned and fully stocked. The lids and stir sticks at the coffee pass are to be stocked fully and cups stacked on top of the Slayer. Replenishing stock of cups/ lids should be moved from storage in the lockers to underneath the till for easy access during service.

Windows and doors at the front of the cafe should be sprayed with glass cleaner and left shining.

Team Player

Our Pearse Street team is a small one, and it is of utmost importance that each member of this team operates as a team player, pulling their own weight and having the capacity to take on relevant instructions and orders from the manager in good spirit without retaliation or argument.

Professionalism, punctuality and reliability

Punctuality is one of the highest priorities in this list. This ties in to being a team player. Being on time for your shift shows respect for your colleagues and shows that you care about what we are trying to achieve. It affirms with your team that you are a reliable person and it is a trait of leadership. It inspires confidence in the team. Everyone being on time ensures that the shop is fully set up for the first customers’ arrival and that customer service isn’t impeded. Vigilance of Product expiry dates/ deliveries vs delivery dockets discrepancies Staff need to be vigilant of expiry dates of all goods, but particularly baked goods with shorter shelf lives so we are not putting out dry cakes/ cakes of poor quality. They must also check all delivery dockets versus what was delivered to ensure they are correct before passing the docket on to the manager for checking versus invoices received.

Initiative & Taking on responsibilities/ curating seasonal drinks

It’s necessary for the cafe to maintain an exciting menu as the seasons change. We look for staff to have an interest in developing new seasonal drinks/ cocktails to keep customers excited and to demonstrate innovation/ catch the eye of reporters/ social media pages/ influencers. It’s great to see an interest in taking on new responsibilities like taking charge of milk/pastry/sandwich orders and taking initiative in other daily operations also.

Cloud Picker is committed to B Corporation and the certificate and values it holds. Thus; our employees are also committed to acting on behalf of our agreement with the B Corporation values.

Our actions are:

General:

• Motivated to make processes more efficient, safe, sustainable, and transparent.
  Oriented towards cooperation by involving peers in their work when relevant, asking for feedback when necessary, and effectively processing said feedback in a productive manner.
• Committed to advancing awareness of health and safety policies, such as respecting the workload and office hours of peers.
• Attentive to new ways our business operations can be leveraged to further positive environmental and social impact.
• Proactive in sharing ideas on how to improve business practices, engage external stakeholders, or support the communities in which we operate.

Social:

• Engagement of stakeholders beyond direct sales partners, e.g., community stakeholders where relevant.
• Engagement of stakeholders on topics beyond sales-related conversations, e.g. proactively opening up conversations with stakeholders on how to minimise waste, conserve energy or water, and make more sustainable purchasing or operating decisions.
• Supportive of our local communities wherever possible through local sourcing, hiring, and investment.

Environmental:

• Willing to put in extra effort to gather, process, and disclose accurate information regarding environmental and/or social impacts to internal and external stakeholders.
• Committed to minimising waste and correctly processing the waste generated.