Emmanuel Donkor wins maiden Campari Bar Academy challenge

By Emmanuel Asante Attakora, GNA

Accra, Dec. 24, GNA - Mr Emmanuel Donkor, has won the maiden edition of a six months Campari Bar Academy Challenge.

The challenge is aimed at influencing a cocktail culture in Ghana, as well as grooming bartenders for professional growth.

The six months program, saw over 40 bartenders, from various bars and restaurants in Accra, offered by the Campari Academy.

It was run by top class trainers from the world of bartending and bar management and experts from the world of Wines and Spirits.

Speaking in an interview with GNA, Mr Emmanuel Donkor thanked Campari for the opportunity offered to bartenders, to grow professionally and to exhibit their talents in different ways.

“It was an honour to have world class trainers from Campari to groom us for all this while and give us some other tips as we seek to grow in our industry.

“The challenge started with creating cocktails with the different range of Campari drinks and out of over 40 contestants, I was able to pave my way through and I am very proud of my feat.

“I promised my mother of making her proud when I first entered this competition and here I am today as the proud winner, he added.

According to Mr. Emmanuel Donkor, who now manages the Burger Relish Restaurant and Bar and the XO Restaurants bar in Accra, his cocktail, which comprised of different Campari brands, bumblebee and his own passion syrup, won him the maiden award of the challenge.

“I have been in the bar tender work for over five years and I have always been motivated to excel and grow in my field of work and today I managed two of the best cocktail bars in the country”.

Mr Perry Amu, National Brand Ambassador for Campari, noted that it wasn’t just a challenge, but an avenue to bring the bar tenders up to date with modern trends in bar tendering and also helping them to be imaginative in their own ways.

“We came up with this, to whip up interest in cocktail in Ghana and also to bring out the best from the various bar tenders, where we had three series with four challenges having forty bar tenders from ten outlets participating.

“We are influencing the cocktail interest in Ghana and by so doing we decided to get to the guys that serve the drinks at the various bars, where we gave them education and training on what they do and how best to serve and talk to their customers as well as creating their own cocktails.

“The idea was to make sure that bar tenders in Ghana are at par with their African and European counterparts, because the people who patronize these cocktail bars, have had a good taste out there and must get same from Ghana” he said.

According to Mr Amu, the winner would have an all-expenses paid for trip to Milan in Italy and South Africa, where he would learn more about the Campari Bar Academy and the brand, so he would upgrade himself and to also impact to the other bar tenders at a session that would be organized soon.

Campari, a brand under the Voltic Ghana Company Limited, has the Campari aperitif, which is a premium bitters to be taken before meals as well as the Campari whisky portfolios like single malt whisky as well as the Campari vodkas like the Campari sky vodka, which is quadruple distilled, which is smooth and hang over free and the bull dog gin, with 50 botanical present in it.

GNA

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