Northern Ireland’s leading food service and business support solutions company, The Mount Charles Group, has crowned Pamela Stothard from Ballynahinch the 2015 ‘Master Barista’ in their annual ‘Battle of the Brands’ competition.

The contest, organised in conjunction with Johnson’s Coffee and held at the Ulster University’s Coleraine campus, saw six finalists from across the Mount Charles Group’s coffee shops and cafés battle it out in a challenge of coffee preparation, presentation and taste.

The finalists were each required to prepare four espressos, four cappuccinos and four of their own signature drinks for an expert judging panel in a 15-minute time slot.

Scoring their efforts were Trevor Stewart, Account Manager for Johnsons Coffee, Tim Smith, Training Manager for Johnsons Coffee, Christine Magee, Sales and Marketing Director for the Mount Charles Group and Lee Cutler, Manager of Forestside Shopping Centre, Belfast.

After much deliberation and discussion, the panel unanimously agreed that Pamela’s coffee and service was of the highest standard and consistency, and crowned her the overall winner, with her Café Laurent colleague Paulina Kwiatkowska awarded runner up.

Cathal Geoghegan, Managing Director of the Mount Charles Group said: “It’s been fantastic to see such exceptional service and talent on show. Pamela is a worthy winner, but she had to fight off some stiff competition to take the title.

“The standard was so high and a lot of hard work went in behind the scenes to make the competition such a success, from the competitors practicing to the team who helped organised each of the regional heats, so we’d like to thank everyone who got involved.

“We strive to maintain the highest possible standards across all of our brands, from our suppliers to our employees, and it’s fantastic to be able to celebrate and reward that with the ‘Battle of the Brands’ competition.”

For more information on the Mount Charles Group please visit www.mountcharles.com