2026 Coffee Heroes Awards finalists revealed – BeanScene

The list of nominees for this year’s Coffee Heroes Awards has officially dropped, with winners across seven categories set to be announced at the MICE Opening Party on Thursday 26 March.

This year’s batch of seven awards has grown from the three presented at the inaugural event in 2025, where Pablo & Rusty’s CEO Abdullah Ramay (Community Champion), Extraction Coffee Roasters’ Liam Pratt (Next-Gen Talent), Bennetts Coffee’s Scott Bennett (Lifetime Achievement Award), and Wells Trenfield (Legacy Award) were recognised.

This year’s crop of nominees includes a small group of people who have been nominated across multiple categories.

Blackboard Coffee Roasters’ Danny Andrade will be up for the Coffee Educator, Community Champion, and Lifetime Achievement Awards.

Coffee Mentality’s Ian Abadiano has been nominated alongside Danny for the Coffee Educator and Community Champion Awards, and has also been nominated for Homegrown Hero. Coffee Mentality is also in the running for Sustainability Champion.

Rubra Coffee’s Andres Felipe Ballesteros Zuluaga has also been nominated for both the Coffee Educator and Community Champion awards.

Check out the full list of nominees:

Best New Café

Almost French Epicure
Ratio Coffee Crows Nest
Sidecar Roasters

Coffee Educator (mentor)

Ian Abadiano, Coffee Mentality
Danny Andrade, Blackboard Coffee Roasters
Nadia Araujo Moreira, Southland Merchants
Simon Gautherin, Zest Specialty Coffee Roasters
Nicole Motteux, Sustainable Coffee Advocate
Andres Felipe Ballesteros Zuluaga, Rubra Coffee
Chris Short, Cafetto
Joshua Walhain, Alternative Brewing
Li Wang, Sanjiangwater PTY LTD

Community Champion

Ian Abadiano, Coffee Mentality
Danny Andrade, Blackboard Coffee Roasters
Rodney Ayton, Bean Station Wodonga
Andres Felipe Ballesteros Zuluaga, Rubra Coffee Roasters
Jon Barnett, Slurpsup Sydney
Marcelline Budza, Rebuild Womens Hope Cooperative
Nicole Motteux, Sustainable Coffee Advocate
Damien O’Brien, Coffee Foundation

Home Grown Hero

Ian Abadiano, Coffee Mentality
Rebecca Zentveld, Zentveld’s Coffee, Farm and Roastery

Lifetime Achievement

Danny Andrade, Blackboard Coffee Roasters
Angelo Augello, Formerly Bean Alliance Group
Sebastián Farias Arcila, Far More
Melissa Floreani, Clark St Coffee Roasters
Jack Hanna, Single Estate
Stephen Hurst, Mercanta Ltd.
Nicole Motteux, Sustainable Coffee Advocate
Lucy Ward, ST. ALi Coffee

Next-gen Talent

Justin Calpito, Honeybird Coffee
Hany Ezzat, Ona Coffee / Ni Wares
Danni Lubbe, London Tavern Hotel
Jerome and Micah Manion, More Matcha
Efthimios Tsiukardanis, Code Black

Sustainability Champion

Cateco Trading Pty Limited
Clark St Coffee Roasters
Coffee Mentality
GRADA
Grounded Packaging
Huskee (BioPak)
made by Fressko
Pablo & Rusty’s
Reground
Sustainable Coffee Advocate

For more information on attending the Coffee Heroes Awards, click here.