Roast Magazine Announces 2025 Roaster of the Year Winners

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Oct 21

Dear Green Coffee Roasters and Wonderstate Coffee

PORTLAND, OREGON (Oct. 21, 2024) — Dear Green Coffee Roasters and Wonderstate Coffee won Roast magazine’s 21st annual Roaster of the Year award in the Micro and Macro roaster categories, respectively. The two coffee roasting companies will be featured in the trade publication’s November/December 2024 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.

Dear Green was founded in 2011 by owner Lisa Lawson. With a roasting output of 98,326 pounds in the past year and a team of 10, the roaster-wholesaler is dedicated to fair work practices and environmental responsibility. Learn more at deargreencoffee.com.

Wonderstate Coffee was founded in 2005 in Viroqua, Wisconsin, and is owned by Caleb Nicholes, TJ Semanchin and Bobbi Griffin. With an annual roasting output of 450,000 pounds and 80 employees across three cafes, the company champions the values of “Excellence, Gratitude, and Service to the Collective Good.” Learn more at wonderstate.com.

Alongside Dear Green, finalists for the Micro Roaster category were Three Keys Coffee and Thread Coffee Roasters. For the Macro Roaster category, in addition to Wonderstate Coffee, the finalists were Driftaway Coffee and Utopian Coffee. Congratulations to all of the finalists for making incredible commitments to the industry, employees, partners across the value stream, and local neighborhoods.

About Roast Magazine

Roast magazine 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.