Raise the Bar Academy: Bar expert is intended for bartenders and baristas with at least one year of experience in the hospitality, who have the opportunity to attend a free program designed to develop the skills necessary to work behind the bar.
Theoretical and practical classes are held at the Raise the Bar training center in the Coca-Cola HBC Croatia HQ in Zagreb. The center is equipped with modern equipment and bar equipment and ingredients necessary for teaching and working in simulated real-world conditions.
The educational program is carried out according to the curriculum developed in cooperation with one of the world’s leading bartending schools. Participants who successfully complete the program will receive a certificate issued by Coca-Cola HBC Croatia.
Lecturers
He started his career as a barista at the 42 Coffee Co. bar, but soon continued to perfect his barista and bartender skills at the Dežman bar. As a bar consultant, he worked at Jägerhorn Hotel in Zagreb and the One Suite Hotel in Dubrovnik. He is most renowned as the head bartender of the former Aperitivo bar. His immense love for cocktails and years of experience in the hospitality sector encouraged Kruno to initiate the Croatian Modern Classic competition, which connects nineteen bars in Croatia and more than thirty top bartenders in the country. He continues to work on projects that popularize the cocktail scene and established Wunder Bar, a bar consulting agency dedicated to increasing the number of exquisite bartenders and bars in Croatia. Kruno is currently working as Premium Spirits Business Manager at Coca-Cola HBC Adria.
Dominik Bečvardi is the head lecturer at the Raise the Bar Academy, one of the co-owners of the well-known and beloved Zagreb bar Peaches & Cream, a brand ambassador for Brown Forman, and the recipient of the Bartender’s Choice 2022 Raise the Bar Award. Dominik has been involved in the bartending profession for many years, and his truly rich portfolio includes places like Dubravkin put, Barbieri’s, and Glow Bar.
Dominik is also a co-founder of the Copy Taste festival, which brings internationally recognized bars to Zagreb for guest shifts, educational sessions, and an open-air event.
Hospitality professional, founder of Cocktail Week Zagreb, and one of the most successful restaurants in Zagreb, the restaurant SOI Fusion. Inicijator je i recenzent prijevoda knjige Setting the Table Dannyja Meyera.
Marko Rundek graduated oenology and viticulture at the Faculty of Agriculture in Zagreb and has been working as a sommelier for more than 15 years. In his rich career, he worked as the head sommelier of Dino Galvagna’s Fifth Quarter and as a sommelier and manager in Dubravkin put and Dežman bar. From 2018 until 2024 he worked as the head sommelier in the Man02 restaurant in Zagreb. Marko is currently working at Nico’s Bar and Bistro in Zagreb.
Mišel has been working in the hospitality industry for more than 15 years. He comes with extensive experience from the best Italian school for bartenders in which he complete three levels of barteding education as well as molecular and modern mixology under the mentorship of Dennis Zoppio. He also gained experience in bars, clubs and restaurants in Italy and Croatia, where he worked as bartender and bar manager. Today, he is part of the Monin global team as Advocacy Brand Manager.
He is one of the pioneers of craft beer in Croatia and the founder and main administrator of the web profile pivarstvo.info, which was started in 2007. He organizes numerous domestic and international competitions for craft breweries and is a regular judge at international competitions. Andrej attended the Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Technology and the Faculty of Food Technology and Biotechnology in Zagreb. Years of experience in home brewing encouraged Andrej to establish Zmajska pivovara, the first craft brewery in Croatia, with the desire to offer innovative and different beers and to set new benchmarks in the market. The confirmation that Andrej Čapka and his team are on the right path came in the very first year of business – Zmajska pivovara became one of the top ten newly opened breweries in the world in 2015.
Lovro Majić is a coffee expert at Coca-Cola HBC Adria. He has been active in the coffee industry for nearly a decade. He has participated in numerous competitions, taking second place twice in regional latte art competitions and finishing second twice in “Latte Art Throwdown” events, in addition to winning the Stribor Latte Art competition. He also organizes the Raise the Bar barista competition, held as part of the Raise the Bar conference.
Karlo Purić first tasted coffee in 2017, and just a year later, he opened his own roastery, Four Wheel Coffee Roasters. As a multiple-time Croatian and regional barista champion, he has since gained extensive experience through competitions, training, and daily work with coffee. Today, alongside roasting coffee, he also trains future baristas as an instructor at the Raise the Bar Academy.
Raise the Bar Academy 2019
– Raise the Bar Academy 2020
– Raise the Bar Academy 2021
– Raise the Bar Academy 2022
– Raise the Bar Academy 2023
– Raise the Bar Academy 2024
– Raise the Bar Academy 2025
