The Co-Founder of Romanian coffee brand 5 to go, Radu Savopol, has been honoured at the European Coffee Awards, claiming the ’Outstanding Contribution to the European Coffee Industry’ category.
The company says the honour at the 28 November event in Barcelona confirmed the significant impact of Savopol’s innovative entrepreneurial strategy.
“It means a lot to us that the 5 to go brand has become a landmark and awarded at such large-scale events, in order to make the Romanian coffee industry known internationally,” says Savopol.
At the same event, the 5 to go brand was nominated for Best Coffee Chain in Central/Eastern Europe.
Savopol established 5 to go in 2015 with business partner Lucian Bădilă after mapping out their business plan on a café napkin. The brand started with a small coffee shop out of a garage in the old centre of Bucharest and now boasts approximately 500 venues.
The European Coffee Awards, now in their 14th year, bring together the industry’s top leaders each year and the winners are chosen after rigorous analysis by a team of expert analysts and researchers.
The full list of this year’s winners are below:
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
