With its Raise the Bar project, Coca-Cola HBC Croatia continues to contribute to the hospitality sector and the community in which it operates

By launching the Raise the Bar project a year ago, Coca-Cola HBC Croatia started contributing to raising the quality of the workforce in the hospitality and tourism sectors. Through the project’s own training center, the Raise the Bar Academy, top lecturers such as Kruno Rozić (Coca-Cola HBC Croatia), Andrej Čapka (Zmajska pivovara), Ivan Jug  (Noel) and Andrea Klemenčić (KA Consulting) use state-of-the-art techniques to familiarize bartenders, waiters and baristas with the latest trends in the hospitality sector. After successfully completing the practical and theoretical parts of training and passing the final exam, participants receive a certificate from Coca-Cola HBC Croatia and the world-famous European Bartender School.

They ambitiously continued the project in 2020, when they chose the second generation of academy attendees, who happily and willingly set out to expand their knowledge and to master the learning material. As the attendees were deeply engrossed in the academy’s learning materials, an epidemic was declared and activities abruptly stopped. The team behind the Raise the Bar project didn’t just sit around waiting for everything to pass, but provided during the quarantine financial assistance to bartenders who had continued working on minimal earnings and whose bars were offering cocktails to go. Now that the measures have been eased, they are actively monitoring the epidemiological situation and planning for a very busy fall.

First up are the attendees of the second generation, who will complete the remaining theoretical and practical training in September and thus meet all requirements for taking the final exam of the training cycle.
Then, on October 19, the third generation of the Raise the Bar Academy will begin,
applications are already open!

What to expect as a project participant?

Future attendees can expect know-how that will be passed on to them by top experts in areas such as mixology and strong alcoholic beverages, wine, coffee, beer and bar management. The academy training has a duration of 12 weeks and consists of eight weeks of theoretical training at Coca-Cola’s modern training center on the terrace of the administration building plus four weeks of practical training. Requirements for application are a minimum of one year of work experience in the hospitality sector, eligibility for work in Croatia and the will and desire to learn and work! Applicants may or may not be employed at the time of application.

Once the registration period has ended, i.e. September 21, Coca-Cola’s team of experts will organize a selection process and select 15 attendees of the academy’s winter semester based on all process parts.
More information about the academy’s program can be found on the project’s website, where those interested can also apply, or on the project’s Facebook and Instagram pages.

Sign up now and help us raise the bar in Croatia’s hospitality sector!