Calling all young coffee lovers. Arabica Philippines has officially set the stage for its barista internship program at the Arabica Manila Roastery in BGC, Taguig City.

Through this program, the company is opening its doors and bags of coffee beans to passionate young Filipinos for an immersion in the barista profession and Arabica culture. 

In an interview with Manila Bulletin Lifestyle, Koko Tamura, Arabica Philippines Chief Operating Officer (COO) said that the internship is open to young people from 16 to 20 years old. Each batch of internship will accept two students that will have an extensive training for eight consecutive weekends in the Arabica BGC branch.

Further details about the application requirements and procedure will be posted on their social media pages this March 2024. Koko clarified that this opportunity is open to all young individuals, whether students or not, and is free of charge.

“It is definitely open to out of school youth [sector],” she told Manila Bulletin Lifestyle when asked if the program also welcomes people who are not currently enrolled at school. “In fact, this is even a priority for us. To give opportunity to those who will really benefit from it or to those who don’t have access to these types of training.”

To give everyone a hint of some of the requirements to prepare, Koko said that a video or photo showing how much each participant loves coffee will be submitted once the portal for the application is open.

“The video doesn’t have a length requirement,” she said. “It can be a new or old video as long as it shows their passion toward coffee…maybe doing home brewing or experimenting on coffee recipes.”

For further details, watch out for their announcement on Arabica Coffee’s social media pages.