Introducing the 2018 Roasters of the Year: Amavida and Oughtred

Amavida Coffee Roasters and Oughtred Coffee & Tea have taken top honors in Roast magazine’s 14th annual Roaster of the Year competition. The two coffee roasting companies are featured in the trade publication’s November/December 2017 issue, available online at roastmagazine.com.

Roast magazine’s Roaster of the Year awards recognize companies that roast coffees of superior quality, exemplify a dedication to sustainability, promote employee and community education, and demonstrate a strong commitment to the coffee industry, among other criteria. The magazine awards top honors in two categories: Micro Roaster of the Year, for companies roasting fewer than 100,000 pounds of coffee each year; and Macro Roaster of the Year, for companies roasting more than 100,000 pounds annually.

Amavida Coffee Roasters

Members of the Amavida Coffee Roasters team at the company’s new headquarters in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida. Photo by Jack Gardner.

Amavida Coffee Roasters, with headquarters in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida, was named Roast’s 2018 Micro Roaster of the Year, with a total output of 90,000 pounds of roasted coffee in 2016. Amavida is a certified B Corporation and a Florida Benefit Corporation, two designations that attest to its commitment to measure and manage its social and environmental impact. The company was selected in large part because of its commitment to making a positive impact in the coffee-producing communities with whom it partners as well as its local communities at home. Amavida also was recognized for its generous employee practices, innovative spirit and commitment to outstanding coffee quality. Learn more at amavida.com.

Oughtred Coffee & Tea

Oughtred coffee and production team members at the company’s Roasting Works, July 2017.

Oughtred Coffee & Tea, headquartered in Victoria, British Columbia, took the top prize for Macro Roaster of the Year, with an output of 900,000 pounds of roasted coffee per year. Founded in 1973, Oughtred has been family-owned and -operated for nearly 45 years. In recent years, with a second generation of Oughtreds at the helm, the company has made remarkable strides in minimizing its environmental impact, ensuring outstanding coffee quality through comprehensive client and staff training programs, working to benefit communities at origin and at home, and sourcing and roasting exceptional coffees. For more information, visit oughtred.com.

About Roast magazine:

The 2013 Maggie award winner for best specialty trade magazine, Roast is a bi-monthly technical trade journal dedicated to the success and growth of the specialty coffee industry. Roast addresses the art, science and business of coffee roasters by covering the issues most important to them, with quality editorial content focused on the technical aspects of coffee. For more information, visit roastmagazine.com.

Past ROY Winners

2005 winner—Counter Culture Coffee
2005 runnerup—Taylor Maid Farms

2006 winner—Stumptown Coffee Roasters
2006 runnerup—Intelligentsia Coffee and Tea
2006 runnerup—Dillanos Coffee Roasters

2007 winner—Micro—Metropolis Coffee Co.
2007 winner—Macro—Intelligentsia

2008 winner—Micro—Higher Ground Roasters
2008 winner—Macro—Zoka Coffee Roasters

2009 winner—Micro—Coffee Klatch
2009 winner—Macro—PT’s Coffee Roasting Co.

2010 winner—Micro—Kickapoo Coffee
2010 winner—Macro—Equator Estates Coffee

2011 winner—Micro—Conscious Coffees
2011 winner—Macro—Dillanos Coffee Roasters

2012 winner—Micro—Bird Rock Coffee Roasters
2012 winner—Macro—Portland Coffee Roasting

2013 winner—Micro—Olympia Coffee Roasting Company
2013 winner—Macro–Gimme! Coffee

2014 winner—Micro—Pilot Coffee Roasters
2014 winner—Macro—Coda Coffee Company

2015 winner—Micro—Portola Coffee Lab
2015 winner—Macro—Reunion Island Coffee Roasters

2016 winner—Micro—Propeller Coffee Co.
2016 winner—Macro—Crimson Cup Coffee & Tea

2017 winner—Micro—Mudhouse Coffee Roasters
2017 winner—Macro—Thanksgiving Coffee Company