Monica Berg calls for 'industry discussions' on bar sexism

Leading bartender Monica Berg believes the industry must ‘have discussions’ about changing the attitude towards female bartenders around the world.

The Norwegian is bar supervisor at HIMKOK in Oslo and has owned H. Butlers Bartending School for nearly 12 years, but still believes there is room for more female influence within the industry.

Speaking to DI at the Bacardi Legacy cocktail competition where she was a judge, Berg said: “I think it’s important to agree that this is a discussion we need to have, and to have a discussion with the mind set of finding solutions.

“I don’t think I have a solution at all, I don’t think there is just one answer to this problem, I think there are multiple answers.”

Grace Tsai from Taiwan was one of two females who made it through to the final of the competition in Berlin last month and Berg was impressed by her standards.

Berg added: “Her performance was solid, her English was good, she was charming and she made sense with her reasoning. I think the name of her drink was also great, her drink was great and she was such a nice personality so I really enjoyed her presentation.

“I think this is important because it shows all of the non-believers that female bartenders can be amazing.

“We all have different skills and we all have different weaknesses, but we can all work together as a team to utilise our strengths.”