Starbucks Korea to resume senior barista training, targeting 1,000 trainees a year

Starbucks Korea announced Tuesday that it will resume its senior barista education support project in August in partnership with the Korea Senior Club Association.

The company will train about 500 seniors through the end of the year, offering both hands-on sessions covering espresso extraction, milk steaming and latte art skills, and theory classes on flavor profiles by country of origin.

Starbucks Korea has run a senior barista job support project with the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Korea Senior Club Association since 2019, with more than 2,000 seniors completing the training to date. Cumulative support — including barista education, training center development, co-prosperity beverage development and raw material provision — has exceeded 3.1 billion won ($2.09 million).

To extend training opportunities to more senior baristas, the company plans to open a second co-prosperity training center before the end of the year. On Monday, Starbucks Korea held a center-opening pledge ceremony with the Korea Senior Club Association at its support center.

With both the new facility and the existing Gunpo co-prosperity training center operating simultaneously, the company expects to train 1,000 senior baristas annually — double the current capacity. The second center will be equipped with professional drink-making equipment including espresso machines and ice makers, POS terminals and a multipurpose lecture room, modeled closely on an actual Starbucks barista training facility.

The Senior Barista Latte Art Competition, held annually since 2022, will also return in the second half of the year. Preliminary round registration opens at the end of this month, with qualifying and final rounds scheduled to run from September through October.

Starbucks Korea CEO Shin Dong-woo said the company was pleased to resume "a meaningful senior job creation support project carried out with genuine sincerity," adding that it would expand its volunteer contributions and support so that more senior baristas can realize their dreams.