Customers voted Roasti the winner of the first People’s Choice Coffee Awards.
The comments they made along with their votes praised the café for its hospitality, welcoming team, atmosphere and genuine sense of community. The most interesting thing about this whole experience for me that those same themes appeared throughout hundreds of comments submitted by coffee lovers from 45 countries.
Together, they tell a simple story.
Customers remember how a place made them feel just as much as what was in the cup.
Why I created the People’s Choice Coffee Awards
The People’s Choice Coffee Awards (PCCA) started with an idea I’ve had for a long time.
Specialty coffee already has plenty of awards. We celebrate baristas, brewers, roasters and cafés through competitions judged by people with deep technical knowledge. Those awards deserve their place because they recognise skill and help push the industry forward. Undoubtedly, they have.
But they don’t answer a different question: what do customers actually value?
The people who buy coffee every day don’t judge a cappuccino by its extraction yield or whether the espresso recipe was adjusted that morning. They judge it by whether they enjoyed being there. They notice whether someone greeted them by name, whether the atmosphere felt welcoming and whether they left wanting to come back.
Those people deserve a place more useful than Google Reviews to say how they feel about a coffee shop.
I created The People’s Choice Coffee Awards for them. To recognise specialty coffee shops through the eyes of their customers.
What happened in Season 1?
The first campaign attracted votes from 45 countries, and the final Top 20 included coffee shops from 12 countries.
I spent hours reading through hundreds of submissions. I expected people to talk about coffee quality, and they did. Great coffee was the most common reason people voted.
After that, they spoke about something entirely different..
They talked about staff who remembered their names. They described cafés where they felt welcome from the moment they walked through the door. They praised consistency, atmosphere, kindness and a feeling that the café had become part of their daily lives.
It didn’t matter whether the coffee shop was in Canada, Oman, Singapore or Australia. Customers described their favourite places in remarkably similar ways.
Roasti became the first People’s Choice Coffee Awards winner
When voting closed, Roasti Coffee Co. in Sherwood Park, Alberta, Canada, was named the winner of PCCA Season 1. Customers praised Roasti’s coffee, the team, the atmosphere and a lot of them specifically talked about the sense of community.
The story behind Roasti
The story of Roasti Coffee Co. starts with a concussion. More in the interview below.
Andrew Hayes began roasting coffee in his parents’ garage. What began as a personal project slowly grew into something much bigger. He founded Roasti Coffee Co. in 2016.
Today, Roasti roasts its own coffee, offering a complete range that includes familiar, comforting coffees alongside more adventurous options. Interestingly, the goal isn’t to convince customers that one style is better than another. It’s to help people find a coffee they genuinely enjoy. Imagine that.
After announcing the PCCA results, I asked Andrew what he thought of Roasti taking the number one spot.
Tell us about the beginning of Roasti. What inspired you to start the business, and what kind of coffee shop did you want to build?
I started roasting coffee in my parents’ garage on a little five kilogram roaster. At the time, I was dealing with some pretty severe post concussion symptoms, including migraines, dizziness and nausea. I needed something I could build on my own terms and at my own pace.
What started as a small project quickly became something much bigger than I ever expected. As Roasti grew, so did my understanding of what I wanted it to become. One thing never changed. I wanted specialty coffee to feel approachable. Great coffee shouldn’t feel intimidating or exclusive.
From day one, the goal was to create a place where everyone feels welcome, whether you’re a coffee enthusiast chasing unique flavour profiles or someone who simply wants a really good cup of coffee. That idea continues to guide everything we do today.
The most common reason people voted for Roasti was “great coffee.” Specialty coffee often focuses on recipes, equipment and technique. What do you think customers actually mean when they describe a coffee as great?
We believe great coffee means different things to different people. For some, it’s a classic, comforting cup they’ve enjoyed for years. For others, it’s discovering something new and unexpected.
Our goal is to have something for everyone.
At any given time, we want people to walk through our doors and find their version of good coffee. Whether that’s a rich, familiar roast or something more adventurous. If someone leaves excited about what’s in their cup, we’ve done our job.
The second strongest theme in the voting was your team. Customers repeatedly described your staff as friendly, welcoming and genuinely enjoyable to be around. How have you built that kind of culture?
More than ever, people have access to great coffee at home. They can buy incredible beans, learn brewing techniques online and invest in amazing equipment.
Because of that, we believe a coffee shop experience has to offer something more than just a great cup of coffee.
We want every person who walks through our doors to feel seen, valued and genuinely welcomed. Whether it’s your first visit or your five hundredth, we want you to leave feeling a little better than when you arrived.
We care deeply about our team, and our amazing team is a huge part of the reason we were voted number one in the first place. I think the culture our team has embodied naturally extends to our customers. The way our staff treat people isn’t scripted. It’s a reflection of the environment we’ve worked hard to create.
We’re genuinely grateful every time someone chooses to spend part of their day with us.
Roasti roasts its own coffee. What role does roasting play in your philosophy, and how does it shape the experience you want customers to have?
We roast our own coffee because it allows us to be very deliberate about what we do. We start with high quality green coffee sourced through direct trade and our incredible importing partners. It also allows us to offer a range of coffees, from bright and fruity to chocolatey and nutty, so there’s something for everyone.
At the end of the day, coffee is a team effort between farmers, importers, roasters, baristas and the people who choose to support us. We’re just one part of that.
We’re grateful for the community that has grown around Roasti, from our café customers and wholesale partners to everyone else who supports what we do. We try to honour that support by roasting great coffee, making thoughtful choices for the environment and showing up for the people who make it all possible.
Community was one of the strongest themes in the voting. Almost every coffee shop talks about building community, but your customers seem to feel they genuinely belong at Roasti. How did you build that kind of connection?
Beyond creating meaningful connections with customers in the café every day, we’ve also invested heavily in building community through our quarterly Three Trees events.
These events transform Roasti into something completely different. We’ve hosted full service restaurant pop ups with local chefs, concerts featuring local musicians and vintage markets that give small businesses a place to showcase what they do.
The goal has always been simple. Bring people together and create opportunities for local creatives and entrepreneurs to be seen and supported.
We believe coffee can be a catalyst for connection. If Roasti can be a place where people discover a new artist, support a local business, share a meal or simply spend time together, then we’re accomplishing something bigger than serving coffee.
What surprised you most about the comments people made about Roasti?
We feel incredibly fortunate to have built meaningful relationships with so many people over the years, but winning the People’s Choice Coffee Awards was still a huge surprise and an even bigger honour.
What stood out most was how often people talked about the feeling they get when they visit Roasti. Of course we’re proud of the coffee, but seeing people mention our team, our atmosphere and the sense of community we’ve built was especially meaningful.
It reinforced something we’ve always believed. Coffee brings people through the door, but it’s the connections that keep them coming back.
We’re grateful to everyone who has supported us, voted for us and made Roasti part of their routine. We’re also honoured to be recognised alongside so many incredible coffee companies.
We’ll keep doing what we’ve always set out to do. Source exceptional coffee, create memorable experiences and serve Good Coffee for Good People.
People’s Choice Coffee Awards Season 2 is now live
Season 2 is now officially open.
If you’re a coffee lover, I’d encourage you to vote for the specialty coffee shop that has earned your loyalty.
If you own or operate a coffee shop, downloadable campaign assets are available to help you invite your customers to take part. They’re free to use and designed for social media, making it easy to encourage your community to vote.
The People’s Choice Coffee Awards were created to recognise coffee shops through the eyes of the people who visit them every day.
I’m looking forward to seeing what Season 2 reveals.
Frequently asked questions
What is the People’s Choice Coffee Awards?
The People’s Choice Coffee Awards is an annual customer voted awards programme that recognises specialty coffee shops around the world. Unlike traditional industry awards, the winners are chosen by coffee lovers rather than judging panels.
Who won the first People’s Choice Coffee Awards?
Roasti Coffee Co. in Sherwood Park, Alberta, Canada won PCCA Season 1 after receiving the strongest support from customers during the global voting campaign.
Why did customers vote for Roasti?
The most common reasons customers gave were great coffee, welcoming staff, excellent service, a relaxed atmosphere, knowledgeable baristas and a genuine sense of community.
What can coffee shop owners learn from Roasti?
Roasti’s success suggests that customer loyalty is built through consistently positive experiences. Coffee quality matters, but customers also remember hospitality, atmosphere, relationships and the way a business makes them feel.
Can any coffee shop enter the People’s Choice Coffee Awards?
Any specialty coffee shop can encourage its customers to vote during the official voting period, provided it meets the published eligibility requirements for the current season.
How can coffee shops encourage customers to vote?
Coffee shops can share downloadable People’s Choice Coffee Awards campaign assets across their social media channels, websites, newsletters and in store marketing to encourage customers to participate.
When is PCCA Season 2 open?
Season 2 is currently open, and coffee lovers around the world can now vote for their favourite specialty coffee shop.
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