Dessert Oasis Coffee Roasters and Utopian Coffee have been honored with Roast magazine’s 23rd annual Roaster of the Year award in the Micro and Macro roaster categories, respectively. The two coffee roasting companies are featured in the trade publication’s November/December 2026 issue.
Roast 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. The award recognizes companies that roast coffees of superior quality, exemplify a dedication to sustainability, promote employee and community education, and demonstrate a strong commitment to diversity, inclusion and equity, among other criteria.
Alongside Dessert Oasis, finalists for the Micro Roaster category were Chocolate Fish Coffee Roasters, Idle Hands Roasting Co., and Indie Coffee Roasters. For the Macro Roaster category, in addition to Utopian, the finalists were Corvus Coffee Roasters and Dean’s Beans Organic Coffee. Congratulations to all of the finalists for making incredible commitments to the industry, employees, partners across the value stream, and local neighborhoods.
Dessert Oasis Coffee Roasters | 2027 Micro Roaster of the Year
Founded in 2009, Dessert Oasis Coffee Roasters (DOCR) is a Michigan-based roaster-retailer and wholesaler roasting approximately 68,000 pounds of coffee annually. Led by owner, president and director of coffee Nathan Hamood, the company operates four retail locations in Rochester, Royal Oak, Ferndale and Detroit, supported by a 9,000-square-foot Ferndale headquarters housing its roastery, bakery, distribution operations, quality control and training center.
DOCR emphasizes thoughtful sourcing and long-term purchasing relationships with producers and exporters, alongside sustainability initiatives that include electric-vehicle deliveries, coffee-waste reuse, bulk coffee options and food-waste reduction. The company also invests in employee benefits, career development and a dedicated Education Department that provides structured training for staff, wholesale partners and the broader coffee community. Its commitment to industry engagement includes public coffee classes, support for employees attending industry events, and involvement in community education initiatives such as Detroit Coffee Week. In roasting, DOCR focuses on careful profiling, weekly production cuppings and consistency, using Probat profiling software to support quality control and highlight each coffee’s best qualities.
Utopian Coffee | 2027 Macro Roaster of the Year
Established in 2006 by cousins Brendon Maxwell and Patrick Smith, Utopian Coffee is a Fort Wayne, Indiana-based roaster-retailer and wholesaler producing 987,946 pounds of coffee annually. Guided by a mission to make life better for farmers, employees, customers, and the community, the company combines long-term producer relationships with a commitment to regenerative agriculture. Utopian has purchased more than 1 million pounds of Regenerative Organic Certified coffee and works with producer partners on practices that support soil health, biodiversity, and farmer livelihoods. Its sustainability efforts extend to its 30,000-square-foot roastery, where the team composts coffee and food waste, recycles, reuses chaff and burlap, and collaborates with local organizations to reduce waste and create community benefits.
In roasting, Utopian applies detailed profiling across the spectrum, from experimental, lightly roasted microlots to its Regenerative Organic Certified Obsidian dark roast. Green coffee screen grading and UV inspection also help the team assess quality and share actionable feedback with producers. As the company scales, it has redesigned production workflows, established clearer employee advancement tiers, and developed standard operating procedures with input from production staff. A dedicated coffee lab supports team development, customized wholesale training, public education, and stronger connections throughout the supply chain.
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About Roast 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.
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