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C Story / Fabiola Solano

Women and

Coffee in

Good Spirits

T he conversation around Asia finals of the prestigious all-fe-

male competition Speed Rack took
gender equality and fe-
male empowerment has
cludes bartenders from Singapore,
been going on for years place in Honk Kong in 2019, this in-
but lately, it has been gaining strength Philippines, South Korea, Vietnam,
as women raise their voices to be Malaysia, China and Thailand.
heard and have better opportunities To learn more about how it has
in life, be it at a professional level, progressed in the last few years we
better education opportunities, or have turned to Arlene Wong, barista,
even women’s rights; yes in this cen- bartender, restaurant operator, and
tury we keep fighting on human rights. actual Asia Brand Ambassador of Mr.
As the United Nations mention in Black, an Australian coffee liqueur
their 5th Sustainable Development that blends the fun of drinking with
Goals: “Gender equality is not only a the deliciousness of coffee.
fundamental human right, but a nec-
essary foundation for a peaceful,
prosperous and sustainable world.”
The food and beverages industry
is no stranger to this topic and it still
It might seem like men and women are
has a lot of room for improvement,
completely equal these days.
and while there are substantial differ-
Nevertheless, there are still countries
ences depending on the country you
where female bartenders are not only Photo / Michael Discenza
are located in, it is safe to say that
weirdly or flirty looked at, but also
many countries in Asia have been
prohibited all together.
doing good progress with the female
representation in bars and cafés. The
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