“The top training, inspiration and networking hub for bar professionals”

The Diageo Bar Academy (DBA) is an internationally-renowned platform providing a wealth of resources for bartenders of all levels. However, it was identified that several health and wellbeing issues considered “part of the job” of being a bartender were not being suitably addressed, and so Barfly was brought on by Diageo to help shape and advise on the creation of holistic wellbeing content for the DBA program.

The overall objective was to better understand the health and wellbeing challenges faced by bartenders all over the world, as well as to interrogate the local nuances within each topic. The ultimate aim was to explore how the DBA could better support bartenders experiencing some of the issues identified.

To give a truly global overview, interviews were carried out with bartenders sourced from Barfly’s international network in six strategic cities – London, New York, Shanghai, Bangkok, Mexico City and Lagos.

Barfly’s subsequent consultancy drove the future direction of the Diageo Bar Academy’s wellbeing content, enabling them to create and tailor programmes relevant to real-life issues faced by bartenders all over the world. The insights gathered during the project proved particularly useful when COVID-19 began to tighten its grip on the hospitality industry, and the health of those working on the front line of the drinks scene took centre stage.

The Diageo Bar Academy recently won a Marketing Week Masters Award for how it has supported the trade during the COVID-19 pandemic.