Starbucks hosts 5th Senior Barista Latte Art Competition

Starbucks Korea held the 5th Senior Barista Latte Art Competition on Tuesday at its support center in Gangnam-gu, Seoul.

A total of 134 senior baristas working at cafes affiliated with the Korea Senior Club Association took part in the preliminary round, with 16 advancing to the finals and five competing for top honors in the championship round. Judging was handled by Seo Woo-ram and Yang Jeong-eun, both 18th-generation Starbucks coffee ambassadors.

The grand prize — the Ministry of Health and Welfare Minister Award — went to Lee Geum-suk of the Bucheon Senior Club, while the Starbucks CEO Award went to Yoo Geun-yeol of the Jincheon Senior Club in North Chungcheong Province. Each of those top prizes carries a cash award of 2 million won ($1,500). The excellence awards went to Park Seo-yeon of the Uiwang Senior Club, Yoon Seong-seop of the Cheongju Heungdeok Senior Club in North Chungcheong Province, and Lee Jeung-suk of the Eunpyeong Senior Club. The merit awards went to Park Mi-soon of the Daegu Buk-gu Senior Club and Seong Bok-mo of the Anyang Senior Club, while the encouragement awards went to Kim Hye-ja of the Eunpyeong Senior Club and Hong Seong-hui of the Seongbuk Senior Club. The remaining winners received prize money and gifts.

Starbucks signed an MOU with the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Korea Senior Club Association in 2019 and established a cooperative training center at the Gunpo Senior Club to support barista education. As of the first half of 2026, more than 2,000 senior baristas had completed the program, accumulating a total of 8,000 training hours. Classes resumed in August after a roughly three-month hiatus, and the company plans to run more than 30 training sessions through December.

"Through the senior baristas' earnest dedication to coffee and their commitment to continuous learning, I felt the power of coffee to connect people," Starbucks Korea CEO Shin Dong-woo said. "We will continue to support more seniors in putting their experience and abilities to use."