A coffee competition, The Battle of the Beans, has been launched and is aimed at not only identifying the province’s best cappuccinos and single shot espressos, but ultimately creating a guide to the very best spots for coffee lovers to enjoy their ultimate caffeine fix.
A group of local coffee mavens known as the Coffee Colab, backed by sugar brand Selati, announced the launch.
At the beginning of this year, coffee guru and well-known food critic Ingrid Shevlin, founder of Shrewd Food on Facebook, inspired a group of coffee enthusiasts to set up a non-profit organisation that would pool its skills to promote its favourite brew – coffee.
Shevlin said 20 years ago, while working for the Sunday Tribune, she began chatting to Ralph Bronzin, then proprietor of the KZNSA’s Arts Café, about the art of making coffee and the perfect cappuccino. A coffee competition was born from this conversation that not only raised awareness of coffee making as a skill and career, but also boosted the standards of excellence while acknowledging the role and skills of the barista. This competition was discontinued.
Shevlin said: “In KZN, coffee shops are the cornerstone of the hospitality industry, offering spaces where you can linger over a freshly brewed espresso or a creamy cappuccino while chatting with friends. While many restaurants did not survive Covid, most coffee shops did. They kept the industry and the spirit of cafe society alive and provided places for people to meet, work and to enjoy a bean brew.”
Shevlin said at the Coffee Colab they believed the best way to judge the ethos of the coffee shop and the excellence of the coffee served was to host a competition.
Dennis Ngxongo, a founder of Coffee Colab, said the city of Durban was contemplating a much-needed revival and a return to its former glory.
"This is our way of contributing to the efforts of those involved. By highlighting and showcasing the tourism, hospitality and lifestyle offering that small coffee shops offer, we can shine a light on our entrepreneurs,” he said.
Coffee is one of the most widely consumed beverages in the world. In 2020/2021, around 166.63 million 60-kilogram bags of coffee were consumed worldwide. According to global data and business intelligence platform, Statista, the South African coffee market is expected to grow by 10.52% between 2024 and 2028 and should be worth around R12 billion.
This year’s competition will focus mainly on the independent coffee shop – a venue where patrons are free to only drink coffee and not necessarily eat – as well as the many emerging coffee carts and vans popping up around town. Each coffee venue must have an espresso machine and an active barista.
Franchises and mainstream restaurants will not be judged. Judges will be scoring KZN’s coffee shops which have been divided into specific regions – the Berea, Central Durban (including the beachfront and the Bluff), Durban North, Glenashley and La Lucia, Umhlanga and KwaMashu, the rest of the North Coast, Amanzimtoti, upper South Coast, Pietermaritzburg and the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands.
Top regional performers will be honoured together with the top three coffee shops across the province at an awards ceremony at the end of the year.