At the beginning of 2023, Michelin officially moved to the renovated China office building in Changning Linkong Park, and Bear Claw Coffee was invited to open its first corporate store here. As part of an employee-co-innovation office project, Michelin provided the space and Bear Claw Coffee was responsible for the day-to-day operations. In the more than a year since its opening, beautiful stories are constantly "happening" and becoming a daily routine in life.
Step into the Michelin office building and turn right to reach this café. In a sense, it is both an "M+café" and a "Bear Claw Coffee Enterprise Shop". The interior of the store is decorated with a large number of "round" elements, which symbolize Michelin's main product - tires. Here, round tires are transformed into circular display cases and table legs, as well as a dome that adorns the ceiling and a small garden in the atrium. If you're a fan of the Michelin Guide, you'll be pleasantly surprised to find various versions of the Michelin Guide, as well as a variety of Michelin merchandise with a French flair.
It is reported that in the process of co-creating the office, Michelin introduced bear claw coffee for the original intention of improving employee experience, creating a diverse and inclusive environment and corporate public welfare. Before the opening of Bear Claw Coffee, relevant departments such as Changning District Disabled Persons' Federation and Linkong Park also gave attention and support, and finally made Bear Claw Coffee and the new Michelin building put into use simultaneously. According to the agreement, for every cup of coffee sold at the Bear Paw Michelin Enterprise Store, 1 yuan of income will be used to support public welfare undertakings.
At the same time, you might be disappointed if you want to find the "bear claws" sticking out of the tiny "bear hole" here. As a store after the "broken wall", the iconic bear claw no longer exists in physical form, but becomes a logo hanging on the wall. Baristas at Bear Claw need to rotate between stores, and hearing-impaired baristas working in open stores are able to connect more closely with their customers: they know what coffee they order today at a glance.
The barista who was on duty on the day of the interview was Akon. He has been working at Bear Paw Coffee since 2022 and has a shy and cheerful personality. In his spare time, he often brews a variety of special coffees and invites everyone to taste them in the WeChat group. Not long ago, he concocted two summer special drinks, Orange Red Wine Iced American and Pomegranate Lemon Iced Tea, which have been well received by Michelin staff and the Bear Claw coffee team, and have been launched as "Michelin Store Special Products". As time went on, he won more and more recognition, and a few days ago he was promoted to store manager.
What does it mean to be a barista for a person with a disability? In the process of communication, the reporter found that it is actually easy to communicate with him, as long as he takes the first step to be daunted. For Akon, as long as people speak slowly, they can distinguish what they are saying by their mouths, and more complex content can also be interpreted by iFLYTEK voice recognition, and he tells people what they want to say by typing.
Akon told reporters that he had studied in South Korea and his last job was a Korean sign language interpreter. After returning to China, he didn't have as many translation jobs and had the opportunity to further his education, so he began to learn how to be a barista. For him, making coffee is not difficult, it is a job that combines interest and technology.
Talking about the most memorable thing when working in a Michelin store, Akon said that he and his friends rushed to KPIs on their birthdays. When the little friend learned about his birthday wish, he decided to work hard to make coffee with him and give him a "birthday gift" in this special way. When it comes to the future, his dream is to open an independent store, "show my best drinks, so that more customers like my coffee, as long as I see the smiles of customers when they drink coffee, I am content." ”
It sounds like a "hot-blooded teenager" story, but in Bear Paw Coffee is actually the norm. Most of the people with disabilities who come here have a love for coffee and a desire to be part of society, and there is an almost childish straightforwardness and seriousness in their personalities. They don't do what they don't like, and they give it their all when challenged – whether it's walking from inside the walls to the outside of the store or competing in the coffee field.
At the beginning of its establishment, Bear Paw Coffee had two aspirations, one was to help people with disabilities open their own coffee on their own, and the other was to provide customers with high-quality and affordable coffee. Li Jia, marketing director of Bear Claw Coffee, said in an interview that there are more than 85 million disabled people in mainland China, and now, the proportion of disabled baristas in Bear Paw Coffee stores has increased from 50% to 90%, covering the type of hearing impairment to the visually impaired, autistic and physical disabilities. Corporate stores are also the future development direction of Bear Claw Coffee, which has good customer stickiness, stable customer types, and is more friendly to baristas with disabilities, "We hope that there will be more and more such stores."
Nowadays, we often see a warm scene in the Michelin store of Bear's Claw Café - Michelin employees come down to "grab coffee" between work, and they use sign language to communicate with the hearing-impaired barista. After Bear Claw Coffee moved in, Michelin and Bear Claw Coffee held a number of coffee sign language classes, so that employees could learn to greet and order coffee in sign language, and also approached their silent world. For hearing-impaired baristas, making new friends and interacting with each other at work is as joyful as making coffee.
Some of the images are from Michelin
Written by Mao Yiyun
Editor: Chen Sha
Editor-in-charge: Gao Qin
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