2012 European Coffee Award Winners Announced!

The European Coffee Symposium took place November 20-22 in Amsterdam. The event ”a sort of TED Talks for the European coffee market ”is organized by Allegra Strategies and annually welcomes around 500 leaders from the specialty coffee industry to gather for in depth discussions of trends, finances and innovation involving the coffee market.

coffee-man-415x566 — Congratulations to Gwilym Davies of London, whose Prufrock Coffee won Best Independent Coffee Shop in the European Coffee Awards

One of the highlights of the Symposium is always the European Coffee Awards, which recognize companies and individuals who have made the most outstanding contributions within the European coffee shop and food-to-go markets.

Allegra invited more than 10,000 industry executives to nominate, through a targeted campaign. The awards winners are the companies and individuals who received the most nominations within each category.

steve — Steve Leighton’s Has Bean Coffee tied for third place with Tim Wendelboe in the category of Best Coffee Roaster.

More than 350 senior executives from across the coffee and food-to-go sectors gathered for a night of celebration on 21 November at the Passenger Terminal Amsterdam, where the award winners were honored during a black tie gala dinner and ceremony, featuring very special guest host BBC comedian Henning Wehn.

002 — Guido Bernardinelli and Chris Salierno of La Marzocco accepted the award for Best Coffee Equipment Supplier at the European Coffee Awards

Here is a list of some of the winners:

Best Independent Coffee Shop
Winner: Prufrock Coffee
2nd Place and Runner up: Workshop Coffee Co.
3rd Place and Highly Commended: Elbgold

Best Coffee Roaster
Winner: United Coffee
2nd Place and Runner up: Lincoln & York
3rd Place and Highly Commended (joint): Has Bean Coffee and Tim Wendelboe

Best Coffee Equipment Supplier
Winner: La Marzocco
2nd Place and Runner up: Thermoplan
3rd Place and Highly Commended: La Cimbali

Individual Awards

The following people were recognized at the awards ceremony for their contribution to the coffee industry in their country or across Europe.

˜Outstanding Contribution to the European Coffee Industry’

Recognized:

Matts Johansson, CEO, da Matteo

Colin Smith, Founder, Smiths Coffee Company

Johanna Wechselberger, Owner, Vienna School of Coffee

Henk Langkemper, Managing Director, Espresso Service West

Moniek Smit, Founder, Coffee Consulting

Vicki Fuller, Senior Director, McDonald’s APMEA

Julian Metcalfe, Co-Founder, Pret A Manger

Lifetime Award

Louie Salvoni, Managing Director, Espresso Service