Winners announced for BRITA Grounds of Innovation Awards
Image: BRITA UK
BRITA Professional has announced the 2023 winners of its inaugural Grounds of Innovation Awards, a tribute to the UK’s vibrant café culture and the creativity born out of coffee shops.
Alongside a leading judging panel, BRITA searched the UK for coffee shops that embodied innovation. The top ten most innovative coffee shops in the UK have been revealed as:
- Skinny Dip, Margate
- Qima, London
- Baffle Haus, Pontypool
- Batch Baby, London
- Effy Stores, Nottingham
- Formative, London
- Fika, Norwich
- Lowdown, Edinburgh
- Carbon Kopi, London
- Souli, London
The awards comes on the back of the launch of PURITY C iQ.
The launch of this new innovation was inspired by the strong link between creativity and coffee. Recent research from BRITA Professional revealed that 58% of UK adults associate coffee shops with creativity. Almost half (43%) visit a coffee shop at least once a month to inspire creativity and innovation. And 54% are drinking coffee when they feel most creative.
The research also revealed other elements that would make customers stay longer and return to coffee shops, including:
- Free refills (49%)
- Drinks offers and promotions (37%)
- Reward schemes (35%)
- Food options (28%)
- A dedicated workspace (24%)
Being the first award of its kind in the sector, BRITA Professional assembled an elite panel of coffee industry titans to help narrow down the shortlist and create the top 10 ranking:
- Ben Lewis – UK Latte Art Championship Finalist 2018, 2019, 2020
- Emma Haines – Director at Caffeina
- Lois and Michela Wilson – Founders of Saint Aymes
- Paul Whitehead – Business Account Manager at BRITA UK
- Peter Dore-Smith – Founder and Director at Kaffeine
Lois and Michela Wilson, founders of Saint Aymes and creative partners of the Grounds of Innovation campaign, commented, “A clear theme throughout the winners of the award was the sense of community that these locations foster. When you actually focus on innovation and creativity, you’re more likely to create a community, and you’re more likely to stand out.”
Tom Denning at Skinny Dip, the top ranked coffee shop, said “It just means a lot to all of us to have this industry recognition. Our shop opened its door five days before the first lockdown so it’s extremely satisfying to have navigated such a steep learning curve and to now be achieving this recognition. The creative community in Margate inspires us every day and it will continue to play a huge role in our business as we look to expand.”
Paul Whitehead, business account manager at BRITA UK, said, “Judging these awards highlighted the true breadth of creativity in coffee we have across the UK, all the way from South Wales to Scotland and everywhere in between. The winners had truly inspiring stories, both from how they operate their businesses in a thoughtful manner to how customers use their locations to boost their own creativity.”
For more information on BRITA Professional’s Grounds of Innovation campaign and further information on the winners, visit: brita.co.uk/grounds-of-innovation-winners.