27 US Coffee Roasters Win 2020 Good Food Awards

Good Food Award winners were honored at a gala earlier this month in San Francisco. Photo submitted by Crimson Cup Coffee & Tea.

Twenty seven coffee roasting companies from all over the United States have been named winners of 2020 Good Food Awards.

All coffees for the competition are judged on flavor, with judges seeking “sweet, clean, well-developed body, balanced acidity and phenomenal aromatics.” Yet roasters must also provide evidence that submissions meet or exceed Fairtrade premiums for prices paid; that the producers behind each coffee demonstrated sustainable practices; and that the roaster itself provides a positive and safe work environment while meeting numerous other baseline sustainability marks.

More on the submission criteria and judging process can be found here.

Pennsylvania’s Backyard Beans Coffee Co. won a 2020 GFA for its Ethiopia Basa. Photo submitted by Backyard Beans.

Of course, roasters with GFA-winning coffees still in circulation get the added benefit of affixing the blue GFA logo on their coffee bags, while consumers can confidently purchase on the tenets of both coffee quality and sustainability.

Typically, only about 15 coffees win Good Food Awards, although a clerical error during the two-day judging period this year lead to the inclusion of some additional winners for both the “finalists” and “winners” rounds.

Columbus, Ohio-based Crimson Cup Coffee & Tea won a 2020 Good Food Award for its Ethiopian Kossa Kebena coffee. Photo submitted by Crimson Cup.

Here is the updated and complete list of 2020 finalists, and below are the 2020 Good Food Award winners in coffee:

1000 Faces Coffee (Athens, Georgia): Luis Ordoñez

Backyard Beans Coffee Co. (Lansdale, Pennsylvania): Ethiopia Basa

Barrington Coffee Roasting Company (Lee, Massachusetts): Gera

Beanstock Coffee (Eastham, Massachusetts): Ethiopian Shakiso Kayon Mountain Organic

Bonlife Coffee Roasters (Cleveland, Tennessee): Kiambu Muiri

Caffe Ladro (Seattle): Guatemala Juan Alva Tello

Case Coffee Roasters (Ashland, Oregon): Ethiopia Dimtu

Coffea Roasterie (Sioux Falls, South Dakota): Ethiopia Dimtu Tero

Compelling Coffee (Los Angeles): Ethiopia Bedhatu Jibicho

Crimson Cup Coffee & Tea (Columbus, Ohio): Kossa Kebena

Equator Coffees (San Rafael, California): Panama Hacienda La Esmeralda Gesha

H+S Coffee Roasters (Laramie, Wyoming): Kenya Chwele

JBC Coffee Roasters (Madison, Wisconsin): Janson Geisha Lot #109

Kickapoo Coffee (Viroqua, Wisconsin): Kenya Mbeguka

Klatch Coffee (Rancho Cucamonga, California): Colombia Finca La Maria Geisha Natural

Linea (San Francisco): Guatemala El Injerto Reserve

Loma Coffee (Portland, Oregon): Ethiopia Shantawene Village – Anaerobic Process

Mudhouse Coffee Roasters (Charlottesville, Virginia): Moras Negras, Mi Finquita Coffee Farm

Oak Cliff Coffee Roasters (Dallas): Carmen Geisha

Penstock Coffee (Highland Park, New Jersey): Taaroo Mill, Ethiopia

Push X Pull Coffee (Portland, Oregon): Ethiopia Sidama Shantawene Anaerobic Process

Red Rooster Coffee Roaster (Floyd, Virginia): Ethiopia Nansebo Worka

Speckled Ax Wood Roasted Coffee (Portland, Maine): Ethiopia Jebicho

Spyhouse Coffee Roasting Co. (Minneapolis): Juan Domingo, Guatemala

Steady State Roasting (Carlsbad, California): La Pradera Mokka

Sweet Bloom Coffee Roasters (Lakewood, Colorado): Mario Alarcon

Vibrant Coffee Roasters (Philadelphia): Ethiopia Ardi Organic – Washed