Raising Standards
Our approach to raising standards and rewarding beverage excellent. Every entry will be assessed by a BSA accredited assessor who will visit as a mystery shopper.
How the accreditation system works
This is made up of the BSA’s unique 5 Cup grading™ and Recommended Certification and works as follows:
These outlets will have scored over 36% and will demonstrate they offer a wide range of hot beverages, high quality customer service and a sound knowledge of their business.
These outlets will have scored over 86% to be conferred a 4 Cup Certificate. The outstanding establishments who score between 95% to 100% will be bestowed the coveted 5 Cup Accreditation.
Every assessor is trained to a high standard and works with a standardised questionnaire created by the Beverage Standards Association under the standards applied to the VRQ City & Guilds Course and Best Practice from the Speciality Coffee Association of Europe.
Three separate drinks are assessed for each entry and marked for taste, temperature and presentation. The scores in each drink category will be evaluated and those with the highest scores will be put forward for selection for a final assessment process. The drinks evaluation process accounts for 75% of the total BSA cup accreditation.
The remaining 25% of points are assessed against 22 service and environment related questions. These include, staff reception of customers, comfort, beverage choice and menus, drinks value and staff knowledge of these, equipment hygiene, general cleanliness, child and disabled friendly, toilets, outside seating, environmental sustainability programmes in place.
Based on the points awarded, each entry will be awarded a percentage score, on which their cup banding will be decided.
The Association wants to encourage beverage businesses to grow their success and to do this we will be according accolades to these outlets.
This is what the Accreditation system is all about and the winner will have invested time and effort is raising their own standards. They will have bought into the BSA accreditation process and will have delivered exceptional improvements in all areas.
This will awarded to venues which have performed well in their first year of taking part in the BSA assessment programme, combining excellent service with high standards. The entrants may have been open for ten years or just opened but they must be completely new to our accreditation process.
The winner will have shown exemplary standards in all areas of the Accreditation programme and are a true ambassador for the BSA gold standard drinks awards and the Five Cup Accreditation programme.
The Association will also be supporting the Accreditation process this year by introducing the beyond the Accolade assessment programme that allows venues who want to improve their standards further.
A Beverage Standards Association approved regional assessor will be assigned the task to create a “Raising the Bar” development programme. This course will be available in a half or full day module.