Counter Culture Coffee Director of Development Tapped to Lead WBC Committee

Durham, NC (March 19, 2008) – Counter Culture Coffee today announced that Cindy Chang, Counter Culture’s director of development, has been elected Vice Chair of the World Barista Championship (WBC) Board of Directors. During 2007-2008, Ms. Chang served as a WBC director and as a member of the WBC Regional Coordinators Committee, which coordinates resources and personnel to facilitate and monitor national barista championships around the world. She will become WBC Chair in late 2008 and will hold that position through the 2009 World Barista Championship in Atlanta, GA.

Ms. Chang brings extensive barista competition experience to the position. A 13-year veteran of the coffee industry, she began her work with barista competitions in 2003 as a volunteer at the WBC in Boston, MA. In 2004, she was elected to the Conference Committee of the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) and helped organize the inaugural South East Regional Barista Competition (SERBC), which Counter Culture sponsored. In 2005, she was elected to the SCAA’s United States Barista Championship committee and led the organization of another Counter Culture-sponsored SERBC in North Carolina. She was elected to the WBC Board and began her role as a Hemisphere Coordinator in 2006. As Hemisphere Coordinator, Cindy helped administer and monitor national barista competitions in participating Western Hemisphere countries. In addition to these administrative roles, she has also served as a competition coach and mentor to dozens of barista competitors, including two-time SERBC champion Lem Butler.

“The World Barista Championship is the premiere culinary coffee event in the world, and it’s both a privilege and a pleasure to be able to contribute to its growth and success,” said Chang. “It will be a distinct, unforgettable honor to represent the host country of the 2009 WBC in Atlanta. “Judging by the growing support of the competitive barista community around the world, the Atlanta event will be one of the largest and most exciting barista competitions in history.”

The WBC is a nonprofit organization governed by a board representing its members, currently the Specialty Coffee Association of America and the Specialty Coffee Association of Europe.

The organization’s stated goals are:

• To promote the growth, excellence & recognition in the Barista profession.
  
• To grow the Barista's knowledge of and expertise in the preparation and serving of specialty, espresso coffee through competitions.
  
• To promote the knowledge and consumption of specialty coffee to the consumer through the Barista.
  
• To become globally recognized as the premier World Barista Event in the coffee calendar.
  
  
  

About Counter Culture Coffee

Founded in 1995, Durham, NC-based Counter Culture Coffee pursues coffee perfection with a consuming passion. The company partners directly with artisan producers at origin to source and roast world-class coffees for its customers in the United States. The roaster operates regional training centers in Atlanta, GA; Washington, DC; and Asheville, Charlotte, and Durham, NC.  At the forefront of developing coffee as quality-focused cuisine, Counter Culture was named among the top three boutique roasters in the United States by Food & Wine magazine in 2006 and was named ROAST magazine’s Roaster of the Year in 2004.  In 2007, Counter Culture partnered with The Culinary Institute of America to develop a cutting-edge coffee curriculum for the institute’s baking and pastry arts program. To learn more, please visit www.counterculturecoffee.com.