THE 2026 GLOBAL COFFEE AWARDS: EXCELLENCE IN THE MENA REGION
World — 26 July 2026
The Global Coffee Awards recently crowned the best roasters in the Middle East and North Africa, highlighting the region's rapidly evolving specialty coffee market.
The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is rapidly establishing itself as one of the most dynamic and sophisticated specialty coffee markets globally. This evolution was recently underscored at the 2026 Global Coffee Awards MENA edition, held on June 15, which celebrated the highest standards of roasting and sourcing across the region.
The competition brought together roasters of all scales, from independent small-batch operators to large national brands, submitting their most exceptional coffees across categories such as Filter, Espresso, and Flat White. Using a rigorous, double-blind judging protocol overseen by certified Q-graders, the awards provided an objective assessment of sensory quality, free from brand bias.
Saudi Arabia's Woods Specialty Roastery, based in Al Khobar, emerged as the overall winner of the MENA edition. The roastery secured top honours in both the Filter and Flat White Plant-Based Milk categories, demonstrating remarkable consistency and technical precision. Other notable gold winners included Brew 92 from Madinah, which triumphed in the Espresso category, and Oasis Coffee Trading Company from Riyadh, which took the Flat White Dairy title.
The results highlight a significant trend: the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) coffee market, estimated to be worth over US$6.8 billion, is no longer just a consumer of specialty coffee but a driver of innovation. Roasters in Saudi Arabia and the UAE are actively shaping market trends, investing in advanced equipment, and building direct relationships with producers in origins like Colombia, Ethiopia, and Guatemala. The speed of this transformation has surprised even seasoned industry observers.
One of the most compelling aspects of the 2026 awards was the recognition of experimental processing methods and rare varietals. The top-scoring coffee of the event was a Gesha in the Filter Single Origin Experimental category, produced by the Aguirre Family at El Injerto in Guatemala and roasted by Brew 92. This focus on exceptional, high-scoring lots reflects a maturing consumer palate in the MENA region, where demand for premium, traceable coffee continues to surge. Consumers in cities like Riyadh and Dubai are increasingly seeking out provenance and process transparency in the same way that Sydney coffee drinkers have for years.
As Chambers expands its international presence, the developments in the Middle East are particularly relevant. The region's commitment to quality and its embrace of specialty coffee culture align closely with our own standards. The success of the Global Coffee Awards MENA edition serves as a testament to the global nature of the specialty coffee movement, proving that excellence in roasting and brewing knows no borders. For a brand built on the belief that great coffee should be the standard, not the exception, the MENA market represents an exciting frontier.