Follow up: DIAGEOS World Class - Moscow today and how bartenders were selected 2009 and 2010 in Germany







Oh, what a week. This OPEN LETTER to DIAGEO was a little bit time consuming . Reading and answering quite a lot of email & comments. But first of all, I really like the fact that Mrs Louise Mc Guane, Global Commercial Marketing Manager from DIAGEO Reserve toke the time the answer every Question on this case here in the comments. I think, the IBB Brothers from Moscow and their „Problem with WORLD CLASS“  is now also noticed in London. And also, DIAGEOS point of view is clear and to me comprehensible.
Some more point on this case:
  • Adam Elmegirab wrote his take about WORLD CLASS on his THE JERRY THOMAS PROJECT blog. „WORLD CLASS 3? More like WORLD WAR 3...
  • In the comments, Miguel F. Lancha from Spain is writing about the spanish experience with WORLD CLASS
  • Kind a lot of Bartenders from Russia now united and you can follow their acitivites on a facebook group. They call themselve : Diageo World „Class B“ Russia
  • Rustam Ganeev, Bartender Moscow, let me know that many Headbartenders from Moscow (names like  Ale Kan, Riman Milostyvi, Dimitriy Sokolow, Seiran Gevorkian) now start to boycott DIAGEO brands. They start to sign their BAR with Sticker „NO DIAGEO WITHIN“...

So, it seem, that the Case in Moscow is yet not solved. A boycott to me seems to be a very big step and, I could not imagne, if I would do such a step. Because, there is one golden rule in a bar: No Politics! So, I do not know all details in moscow and I won‘t judge, but if boycotting a brand brings you issue with a brand to the face of your customers and influces your daily business - this may violate my old "No Politics in the Bar" rule.


After all this happen, I had a talk to a bartender in germany. And suddenly he reminds me how WORLD CLASS in Germany was set up in 2009 / 2010. Finally, nobody even asked for or was complaining about this.
  • 2009 - As I mentioned before, I had a splendid time to be part of the TANQUERRAY TEN TABLE. Ten Bartenders from Germany, Swizzerland and Austria come together every two month in different cities and celebrate the PERFECT MARTIN. While a Dinner with this TEN Bartenders and a few friends, our man from DIAGEO informed us that DIAGEO is now setting up a GLOBAL Event called WORLD CLASS. They need a german attendant and they like us to select one of our group. So while Dinner, we discussed who had time to join in London and vote for on of germany greatest Bartender, Ricardo Albrecht. No competion at all, but also no Problem at all.
  • 2010 - DIAGEO selected a few German Bartenders which where send to the NORD European Finals in Amsterdam/Rotterdam. Here they selected another Great German Bartender, Mrs. Thorsten Spuhn to take Part at the WORLD CLASS FINALS in Athens ... no real Competiton, as far as I know. * EDIT: Please see the Comments section. Helmut Adam from Mixology was so kind to correct me. There was a Competition: http://www.mixology.eu/de/blog/diageo-laedt-zu-world-class-ein

  • 2011 - Rumors say, that this year will be rreliminary round. But as far as I know jet, nobody know any details.

So, a question to all bartenders out there. How did DIAGEO set up the WORLD CLASS in your Country in 2009, 2010 and 2011 ... any details someone?

Kommentare

  1. Jörg, the information about World Class in Germany for 2009 is correct. However, you're mistaken about 2010.

    There was a competition open to ALL bartenders in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. To my knowledge participation had nothing to do with their bars listing Diageo Reserve Brand products. Everybody could enter. They just had to use certain

    The recipes sent in were then judged by Angus Winchester and a couple of other Diageo brand workers and 3 finalists were selected per country for the regional final (Northern Europe) in Rotterdam:

    http://www.mixology.eu/de/blog/diageo-laedt-zu-world-class-ein

    (All internationl readers: please run it through Google translate etc.)

    Mixology magazine acted as a media partner for Diageo World Class in 2010. And I was part of the jury in Rotterdam last year. In the regional final that took place in the Ketel One distillery the best finalist of each country qualified for the gobal finals in Athens.

    I don't have any information for the year 2011. Since they took on a brand ambassador for Reserve Brands and started rolling out a training program, they might go back to a selective competition. As said, no information to date.

    My apologies for not contributing earlier to this matter, but as you said, Jörg, it's a time consuming task.

    Now, if we talk about "politics", I'm known for using your qote above quite often. But: trade and brands are always politics. It's also politics to refuse to take part in branded trips to destilleries and to refuse taking listing fees.

    A trade magazine is in the middle of all this. We live off the advertising of the big spirits companies and have to find a balance with journalistic approach and making the advertisers happy. We serve our readers behind the bar counter AND the industry. Two groups of readers. And definitely in this order.

    As for the Diageo World Class Russia issue: we've already decided to cover this and have talked to a couple of people. We'll publish our view on this matter later this week.


    Note: You had all the right to give this controversy a platform, no matter what other "branded" players in the industry say. It's the first big story in 2010. Transparency is a value these times.

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  2. Addendum:

    There's a sentence missing above.

    "They had to use certain ingredients. One cocktail had to be Ketel One based, the other Tanqueray Ten based."

    More information (German):

    http://www.mixology.eu/de/forum/wettbewerbe/diageo-world-class-2010

    AntwortenLöschen
  3. Blogger gives me the creeps. Just wrote a comment that doesn't show up here. And then posted the Addendum. And it was there before, I saw it.

    (It's a sad fact that Google did nothing to improve this service after acquiring it.)

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  4. Here is your Comment Back Helmut- Don't know what happen, but I always get a email copy:

    HELMUT ADAM WROTE


    Jörg, the information about World Class in Germany for 2009 is correct. However, you're mistaken about 2010.

    There was a competition open to ALL bartenders in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. To my knowledge participation had nothing to do with their bars listing Diageo Reserve Brand products. Everybody could enter. They just had to use certain

    The recipes sent in were then judged by Angus Winchester and a couple of other Diageo brand workers and 3 finalists were selected per country for the regional final (Northern Europe) in Rotterdam:

    http://www.mixology.eu/de/blog/diageo-laedt-zu-world-class-ein

    (All internationl readers: please run it through Google translate etc.)

    Mixology magazine acted as a media partner for Diageo World Class in 2010. And I was part of the jury in Rotterdam last year. In the regional final that took place in the Ketel One distillery the best finalist of each country qualified for the gobal finals in Athens.

    I don't have any information for the year 2011. Since they took on a brand ambassador for Reserve Brands and started rolling out a training program, they might go back to a selective competition. As said, no information to date.

    My apologies for not contributing earlier to this matter, but as you said, Jörg, it's a time consuming task.

    Now, if we talk about "politics", I'm known for using your qote above quite often. But: trade and brands are always politics. It's also politics to refuse to take part in branded trips to destilleries and to refuse taking listing fees.

    A trade magazine is in the middle of all this. We live off the advertising of the big spirits companies and have to find a balance with journalistic approach and making the advertisers happy. We serve our readers behind the bar counter AND the industry. Two groups of readers. And definitely in this order.

    As for the Diageo World Class Russia issue: we've already decided to cover this and have talked to a couple of people. We'll publish our view on this matter later this week.


    Note: You had all the right to give this controversy a platform, no matter what other "branded" players in the industry say. It's the first big story in 2010. Transparency is a value these times.

    AntwortenLöschen
  5. Hello!! Jorg!
    We are not boycotting Diageo brands now, but we wanr to do this, if Russian managment dont change principles of organizing comptetiton in Russia!!!
    as Louise wrote, its no problem to invite bartenders from different kinds of bars or give such Wild cards
    Nobody cant gives us an answer....

    Dima Sokolov

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  6. Hello im the guerrilla bartender and I would have to be more on Mr Daniel side of this argument. I think Daniel could have made a better case than just outline the huge EGO's that seem to have been caught up in this so called scandle. I do understand the feeling of fustration that the Russian bartenders are feeling. Being left out of anything that could be a huge benefit to your bartending career can seem like a huge blow. But as stated by Spike and Louise this competition has only just started and kinks will be ironed out over time and that's what this competition needs is time. It just sounds like the Russian Diageo office is out of touch with their bartenders... No offense is ment when I say oh my god this really isn't a big deal and I can't beleive this has been blown way out of proportion.
    Kindest regards
    GB

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