Photo credit: James Bryant / Coffee Ventures Europe

Senior leaders from across Europe’s coffee, foodservice and hospitality industries gathered at W Hotel in Barcelona from 27-29 November 2023 for the European Coffee Symposium (ECS). 
 

Over the last 15 years ECS has brought together over 7,000 of the most hard-to-reach, senior decision-makers from across Europe to establish new business partnerships and lasting relationships.  

The 2023 event included a high-profile speaker programme, including talks from Roland Horne, CEO and Founder of WatchHouse, Yassir Raïs, CEO and Founder Syra Coffee, Ignacio Llado Alvarez-Salas, Managing Director for Blank Street UK, Koral Ibrahim, Founder & Managing Director of The Ready House, and coffee entrepreneur and author Maxwell Colonna Dashwood. 

Additionally, this year’s event featured the first-ever live recorded episode of the 5THWAVE podcast, which included interviews with Marta Pogroszewska, Managing Director of GAIL’s Bakery, Elaine Swift, Out-of-home Director at UCC Europe, Guido Bernardinelli, CEO of La Marzocco, and Adrian Steiner, CEO of Thermoplan. 

Following a highly successful 1-to-1 Meetings Programme and Expo, delegates congregated for the black-tie, peer-voted European Coffee Awards + Gala dinner. With comedy, live music and culinary excellence, the ceremony celebrated the top companies and individuals across Europe's coffee and hospitality sector. 

Without further ado, here are this year’s winners: 

Best Coffee Chain – Western Continental Europe  

The Barn

Runner-up: Costa Coffee 
Highly commended: Starbucks Coffee Company  

Best Coffee Chain – Nordic Region    

Joe & The Juice 

Runner-up: Espresso House 
Highly commended: Starbucks Coffee Company  

Best Coffee Chain – Southern Europe   

Coffee Lab  

Runner-up: Gregory's  
Highly commended: Starbucks Coffee Company  

Best Coffee Chain – UK & Ireland  

Blank Street  

Runner-up: 200 Degrees Coffee  
Highly commended: Costa Coffee  

Best Coffee Chain – Central / Eastern Europe  

Costa Coffee 

Runner-up: 5 To Go  
Highly commended: Starbucks Coffee Company   

Best Coffee Roaster – Europe   

Lavazza 

Runner-up: illy  
Highly commended: UCC Coffee  

Best Specialty Coffee Roaster  

Origin Coffee Roasters 

Runner-up: Five Elephant  
Highly commended: Small Batch Coffee Roasters  

Best Coffee Equipment Supplier 

La Marzocco   

Runner-up: Astoria   
Highly commended: Victoria Arduino  

Best Independent Coffee Shop – Europe  

WatchHouse 

Runner-up: Bonanza  
Highly commended: La Cabra   

Best Non-Coffee Supplier – Europe  

Monin 

Runner-up: Beyond The Bean  
Highly commended: Chalo  

Most Ethical Brand – Europe   

Union Hand-Roasted Coffee 

Runner-up: 200 Degrees  
Highly commended: Starbucks Coffee Company  

Outstanding Industry Contribution   

Anne Lunell  
Michal Molcan  
Radu Savopol   

Lifetime Achievement Award   

Cosimo Libardo