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What’s interesting is that by the Living Wage Calculator, webs i te a l s o i nclude s a d a sh - they are seeing a lot of discon-
t h e f i r s t a n d l a s t l i n k o f t h e which was developed by Code- board that factors in the cost tentment in the South African
coffee supply chain, the produc- 4SA and Open Data Durban. Like of living, province of employ- context of baristas not knowing
er and the barista, are usually the Living Wage Calculator, the ment and transport costs in an what they are worth. “There was
t h e o n e s wh o m a ke t h e le a s t Barista Wage Calculator (BWC) effort to give a more accurate no tool and only hearsay, so we
a m o u n t o f m o n e y . C a n t h i s was created to assist employers, representation of what a living decided to take action. A baris-
change with the help of digita- m a n a g e r s a n d ow n e r s i n t h e wage should be. I had a conver- ta that works for three years has
lization? The team behind the coffee industry to fairly negoti- sation with Nkululeko Mthem- a different level of experience
Barista Wage Calculator believes ate a living wage for employees. bu, Carla Leigh Ziady, Iain Ev- to one that works for 15 years
i t c a n . T he p ro j ec t i s a j o i nt B y col lec t i n g d at a fo r ove r a ans, Melanie Winter and Richard and has participated in a num-
ve n t u re by C o f fe e M a g a z i n e , year , the team was able to de- Gevers, all members of the team ber of courses to upskill.” says
South Africa’s dedicated coffee velop a user-friendly platform b e h i n d t h e p ro j e c t , to ge t a Iain. “Different skill sets need
c u l t u re m a g a z i n e , n o n - p ro f i t t h at p rov i de s a mu ch - ne eded b e t te r u nde r s t a nd i n g of wh at to be rewarded differently, like
Open Cities Lab, product design co nve r s at i o n s t a r te r b e t wee n the future holds for digitalising in any other job and we wanted
and development company Black baristas and cafe owners. the conversation around baris- to help cafe owners understand
Box, the Specialty Coffee Asso- The BWC takes into account tas’ wages. why a n d h ow t h ey s h o u ld b e
ciation of South Africa and Ciro t he Nat i o n a l M i n i mu m Wa ge , Iain and Melanie, publisher paying more for those skills. Of
Coffee Academy. experience and qualifications and editor of the Coffee Maga- c o u r s e a l l t h i s n e e d e d to b e
The calculator was inspired when calculating the wage. The zine respectively, admitted that verified with data.”

Baristas play a big role
in how the customer

perceives coffee.

Richard, founder of Open Cities now. Given the nature of the project,
Lab, goes further to say that both baris- it can mostly be done on a national
tas and cafe owners can use this data to level unless there is an international
make more informed decisions but it’s body that can help with cross-border
important that it doesn’t stop there. “The regulation or sufficient funding to
impact of the app can show people cer- support it.
tain things but what we hope happens is Carla, Lead Design & Project
that the conversation continues with Manager at Black Box, thinks there is
decision makers, people that can actual- still a long way to go with BWC, “It is
ly affect change. In other words, we hope conversation that is not had enough.
that the technology, data and insight Baristas are speaking to each other
becomes action and policy.” about it but there is a general consen-
Having a conversation regarding sus that if you have this job then you
wages is always a delicate matter. This are not going to earn very well and
might also be the reason why this proj- that’s the way that it is. Their ambition
ect only exists in one country right needs to be repsakred,” she says.

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