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Adri Ford of Carnival Cruise Lines won the competition in 2012 and 2013 |
Bacardi Global Travel Retail has launched the 2014 Bacardi Cruise Competition, the ninth staging of what has become an important initiative showcasing the skills and creativity of onboard bartenders.
This year’s competition does not feature a culinary aspect and is instead devoted to the “˜Inspired Cocktail’. It is focusing entirely on the skills of bartenders and their creativity in using the Bacardi family of brands. Their challenge is to reflect how travel has inspired their personal style of cocktail making.
In September one ultimate winner will be crowned 2014 Bacardi Cruise Competition Bartender of the Year at the finals in Miami, with a prize of US$5,000. There will also be further opportunities from Bacardi where the winner will be invited to attend a range of events and brand experiences to aid their professional development.
Bacardi Travel Retail Americas Regional Manager Zachary Sulkes said: “The art of the cocktail is the ultimate creative expression of our brands – it’s also an integral element of Bacardi’s remarkable history – and we are delighted to bring an elevated focus to the professionalism of the bartender.
“Each year the standard goes from strength to strength and we see this as a key indicator of the continual improvement in the onboard guest experience. The world-class calibre of entrants raises the bar for the levels of professionalism expected onboard and focuses on the importance of the bartender as an absolutely key contributor to the guest experience.”
The competition will be judged by a panel of mixologists, Bacardi Global Brand Ambassadors and cruise industry executives.
The 25 semi-finalist recipes will be hosted on www.cruisecritic.com – a consumer website for cruise lovers – between early June and mid-July and, for the first time, the public will be able to vote for their favourite.
In September the finals will be held in Miami where all six finalists will compete to convince the judges that their signature creations have the perfect ingredients for success.
Adri Ford of Carnival Cruise Lines won the competition in 2012 and 2013 and explained how it had helped her professional development. “I learned more than I ever imagined about the drinks industry,” she said. “I’ve visited incredible brand locations, participated in seminars and other competitions.”
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