Hard of Hearing Baristas Serve Coffee With ‘Bear Hands’ at Hit Shanghai Café

January 20, 2021

Customers are flocking to a specialty café in Shanghai for its forward-thinking business model that provides employment to disabled employees.

“Bear claw” cafe: Hinichijou on Yongkang Road has become a hit among locals, with many lining up to get served coffee by bear-clawed baristas via a small hole in the wall, reports Sixth Tone.

On top of the novelty of the artificial bear claw, customers have fallen in love with the concept of providing employment opportunities for the disabled sector.
“I heard there are people with disabilities working here, so I wanted to come and support them,” a customer lining up for his coffee was quoted as saying.
Customers are also praising the establishment for the taste of the coffee that they serve.

Setting an example: Wang Haiqing, one of Hinichijou’s three founders, said they aim to help people with disabilities who face employment problems, according to The Paper.

The cafe, which opened during the International Day of People With Disabilities on Dec. 3, 2020, employs two baristas with hearing impairments.
The employees received barista training and were hired through the China Disabled Persons’ Federation.
Another coffee shop called Healing Coffee, situated at a mental health center in Shanghai, trains and employs recovered patients as cashiers and baristas.

Addressing the limited job prospects faced by disabled people would require more companies to follow Hinichijou’s example as there are reportedly over 85 million people with disabilities in China, according to figures from the China Disabled Persons’ Federation.

Featured Image via South China Morning Post

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