Raise the Bar Academy: Business Expert FAQ

Raise the Bar Academy: Bar expert is a program intended for bartenders, baristas and waiters with at least one year of experience in the hospitality industry who want to develop their skills behind the bar. Through the program, participants gain knowledge of all categories of strong alcoholic beverages, beer and wine, learn recipes and the preparation of about 80 classic cocktails and practice their knowledge behind the bar. 

Raise the Bar Academy Business Expert is designed for future owners and managers of establishments. It is expected that the participants of the Business expert program have the knowledge equivalent to the curriculum of the classic Academy program and, most importantly, have a concrete vision for starting their own hospitality business.

The program is open to all adults who have at least 2 years of experience working in the hospitality industry, who have a working status in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina or Slovenia, and most importantly, who have a plan and vision for their own hospitality facility or improving an existing one.

• Minimum 2 years of experience in the hospitality industry
• Employment status in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and/or Slovenia
• Existing concrete vision for starting your own hospitality facility or improving the facility where the candidate currently works

Candidates can on the project website.

Candidates can apply from December 5, 2025 to January 12, 2026 until the end of the day.

The selection of candidates will take place in several rounds:

• Review of the application form, motivation and written concept of their own facility or improvement of the facility in which the candidates are employed
• Online interview
• General knowledge exam in the hospitality sector
• Given the area of interest for practical training in the program, candidates will also answer questions from the field of bartending or coffee
• Final interview

The general knowledge exam will take place live, in the premises of the Raise the Bar Academy in the Coca-Cola HBC Croatia administrative building in Zagreb

The education lasts 8 weeks and will be held from February 23rd to April 10th, Monday to Friday from 9 am to 3 pm.

Through theoretical classes, participants will gain the following knowledge and skills:

• General knowledge of the hospitality industry, market segmentation (global and regional), types of bars, global trends
• Micro and macro analysis, seasonality, creating offers, understanding consumer desires
• Financial planning and facility management
• team management, recruitment, team development
• Marketing, communication and PR, crisis communication, answers to difficult questions
• Social media
• Dealing with VIP guests, demanding guests
• Design, atmosphere, ambience of the bar

All interested participants can take part in the WSET II Wine program. Given the complexity of the program, candidates must decide when enrolling in the program whether they want to participate in Advanced Coffee Techniques or Advanced Bar Techniques and pass the entrance exam for that category.