Celebrating excellence from across Europe’s coffee, foodservice and hospitality industries, senior executives gathered in Barcelona for the European Coffee Awards + Gala Dinner at the European Coffee Symposium, 27-29 November – here are this year’s winners
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
