 |
|
The Editor's Pour
If there is one thing I learned from walking the floor at Coffee Fest New York 2026, it’s that the ‘old rules’ of the industry are constantly being rewritten. For years, we’ve told ourselves that a specific certification or a high cup score was the standout way to achieve success. But as I listened to Connie Blumhardt speak with the 2026 winners, a different theme emerged: The Power of Unlearning.
Whether it was Matthew Selivanow realizing that a rigid ‘Organic’ label was actually limiting his ability to support farmers, or Suyog Mody acknowledging that a great roast is only half the battle, this year’s winners share a common trait: Agility.
Being named Roaster of the Year in 2026 isn't about having all the answers - it’s about having the humility to change your mind when the data or the farmer tells you a different story. In an industry that is rapidly automating, it turns out that the most valuable tool in the roastery isn't the software: it’s our own willingness to listen, learn, and evolve.
- Lani Kingston, Education & Conference Director, Coffee Fest
|
LIVE FROM NEW YORK: This session in the Conversation Corner at Coffee Fest New York marked a significant industry milestone: the first time the 2026 Roaster of the Year winners shared a stage since their titles were announced.
Pictured, left to right: Matthew Selivanow (Kafiex), Seidy Selivanow (Kafiex), Suyog Mody (DriftAway Coffee), Anu Menon (DriftAway Coffee) & Connie Blumhardt (Roast Magazine)
The forum was hosted by Connie Blumhardt, the founder of Roast Magazine and a 20-year pillar of the roasting community. She was joined by the teams who survived her publication's grueling annual audit: Anu Menon & Suyog Mody of Brooklyn's DriftAway Coffee (Macro Winner) and Seidy & Matthew Selivanow of Vancouver's Kafiex Roasters (Micro Winner).
|
Anu Menon & Suyog Mody - DriftAway Coffee
|
|
Seidy & Matthew Selivanow - Kafiex Roasters
|
Before digging into their origin stories, Connie set the stage by detailing the rigorous process required to earn the title:
"Anyone named Roaster of the Year is so deserving because they are doing excellent things in their business and their community, and their coffee is some of the best in the world." - Connie Blumhardt
|
Connie Blumhardt: Both of your companies grew in very different ways. What core values have guided the biggest decisions you made?
Anu Menon (DriftAway): One is just constantly learning. Especially as the years go on, you have to keep exposing yourself to new things. An example would be when we went for a conference called Let's Talk Coffee in Honduras. We went in thinking we might want to work on new projects, but we learned so much about the challenges producers were facing. It made us completely rethink our sourcing - looking at how do we be more inclusive, looking at our sourcing in a way that's not just about the cup score, but actually looking at other qualities of coffee.
In going to places like Coffee Fest, you learn more and then think: How do I change my business to keep up with that growth? You have to be willing to evolve your business based on what you learn.
Seidy Selivanow (Kafiex): We started roasting at home on a stove top, then graduated to a popcorn machine. We used to travel the world a lot before we had our first coffee shop... everywhere, you name it, we were going to backpack. So many of those trips led us to origin countries. We constantly found ourselves in coffee farms. We have a slogan that we use in all of our bags now: Redefine your relationship with coffee. I feel like we can redefine our relationship in any way, from just learning that coffee is a cherry to discovering a new tasting note. That's what keeps us pushing forward.
|
Pictured: Seidy Selivanow (Kafiex)
|
Connie Blumhardt: What assumptions about coffee or business did you have early on that you no longer believe?
Suyog Mody (DriftAway): You just kind of hope and assume that as soon as you build it, they will all come running to you. Obviously, that doesn't happen. Building the product is like less than half of the work, but telling the story about the product - caring about it enough that the story you're telling is authentic and real - is super, super important. It’s about how you communicate it, what the customer experience is, and who you are actually trying to appeal to.
Matthew Selivanow (Kafiex): An early assumption that I had was I thought we would only serve certified organic coffee. I had various assumptions about fertilization, and the more I got into learning about coffee farmers, a lot of them do organic processes but they just don't hold the certification. I kind of painted myself in a box. By talking directly to farmers, I learned that many use organic processes but simply don't hold the certification. Opening that door allowed me to redefine my own relationship with what quality coffee can be.
Pictured, left to right: Suyog Mody (DriftAway Coffee), Anu Menon (DriftAway Coffee) & Connie Blumhardt (Roast Magazine)
Connie Blumhardt: What equipment are you roasting on and how did you decide it was the right fit?
Matthew Selivanow (Kafiex): We currently use a Diedrich IR-12. I chose that machine after roasting on a Sono Fresco. At the time, the people that I looked up to were using drum roasters. But since then, new machines have come onto the market like the Lorings or Strongholds. I used to think that a Diedrich was the only way you would get certain good-tasting coffees, but now I think of them as tools and each one of them has a different application to achieve different results. For some of the competition coffees that I roast for Seidy, we'll use a Stronghold machine because you can just do different things with it.
Suyog Mody (DriftAway): We roast on a Loring S35 Kestrel. Loring automation especially allows us to do production roasting in a very controlled, quick, and repeatable way. If you're doing 15 batches of the same thing, you want to make sure all of them taste exactly the same. The sustainability angle is really helpful - no afterburner, which means we can vent up and out, as our roastery is one block from a residential area.
 |
Connie Blumhardt: Scale means different things for a micro-roaster and a macro-roaster. How do you define healthy growth?
Anu Menon (DriftAway): For us, scale is about doing it on our terms. We’ve chosen never to raise outside investment; it is just the two of us. Success is being able to make decisions and grow according to our values- like creating a more inclusive supply chain. That is what we look at when we think about scaling.
Matthew Selivanow (Kafiex): We aren't looking to grow just for the sake of growing. We’ve turned down opportunities that would move a lot of units because they would require less ethical sourcing or cutting corners. We are sticking to our values and growing steadily; that is the healthy way.
|
Connie Blumhardt: What mistakes do you see new businesses make when they try to scale too quickly?
Anu Menon (DriftAway): Not being clear about who your audience is. We all start with a passion for the product, but you have to reset and realize it’s a business. You have to adapt your product to the audience you actually have.
Matthew Selivanow (Kafiex): "Painting yourself in a box." If you only roast super-fruity co-ferments, light roasts, or strictly organic, you limit your audience. The vast majority of coffee drinkers want a medium to medium-dark roast. Being open to different offerings is a better business decision.
Seidy Selivanow (Kafiex): Not involving the whole team in education. Some companies assume baristas won't care about the technical side, but we are the opposite. When we hire, we tell people: "If you love learning new things, this is your place." We want them to know the producers and feel proud of what the company is doing.
Connie Blumhardt: What challenges in coffee right now do you think deserve a more honest conversation?
Seidy Selivanow (Kafiex): Pricing. I feel like everybody should be okay with the price of coffee. I always compare it to wine. We're okay with paying a lot of money for a glass of wine and we're not okay with paying a lot of money for a cup of coffee - it’s exactly the same, or even more work.
Suyog Mody (DriftAway): Aside from pricing, one of the things that coffee on the consumption side is lacking is serious education and training for baristas. We take chefs really seriously, they're celebrities, and the coffee world is way down. We have so much opportunity to catch up by building our version of the Culinary Institute of America.
The consensus from the 2026 Roaster of the Year Forum seems to be that excellence is not a static destination: the path to the top is paved with radical transparency and the humility to pivot. As Connie Blumhardt’s winners demonstrated, the most successful roasters in the industry aren’t those who have ‘perfected’ their processes, but those who welcome the constant refinement of their relationships with the farmer, their team, the consumer - and the cup. The recipe for success in today’s market is a mix of staying curious, listening, and - most importantly - to never stop unlearning.
Find a Roast Magazine Roaster's Forum in the Conversation Corner at all Coffee Fest events. Most panels feature a unique mix of industry icons and local leaders, designed to help you evolve your craft.
CHECK OUT THE CONVERSATION CORNER
)