Community Cafe of the Year winners in Northampton ‘so happy and proud’ of gold award

A Northampton cafe was crowned winner of the Community Cafe of the Year category at the annual Weetabix Northamptonshire Food and Drink (WNFAD) awards.

WNFAD award winners were announced across 15 categories at a glamorous awards ceremony hosted at the Royal & Derngate theatre on Wednesday, October 12.

Out of six finalists, social enterprise and coffee shop Saints Coffee emerged with a gold award in the all new Community Cafe of the Year category.

Co-founder of Saints Coffee Ben Francoise said: “We were a bit shocked, we knew we were in the category but you don’t expect to win these things. It was a really happy feeling.

“It is such a nice thing to get that kind of recognition for some of the work the team have been doing from the last year and a bit. It was a really special moment. It is something that we wanted to do to draw the community together and give something back.”

The Community Cafe of the Year award, sponsored by The Good Loaf, is a brand new category that was introduced for this year’s WNFAD awards to give recognition to local cafes who go above and beyond to support their local communities.

Saints Coffee, owned by Ben and Nicola Francoise, was commended on the quality of its food, drink, warm service and ethically sourced local produce in addition to committing 25 percent of profits to projects in line with its social goals.

Initiatives launched by staff at Saints Coffee and in conjunction with members of the community include men’s and women’s wellness walks, a weekly book club, a monthly Ukrainians in Northampton event and a Baristars programme, which offers barista training to ex-offenders and former homeless people.

Ben added: “It was an honour, especially seeing how many good businesses there are out there doing community work already.

“We do feel proud of the work the team have done and a big part of what we wanted to do as a business was connect to many other businesses, organisations, charities and artists in the town.”

Saints Coffee opened its St Giles Street coffee shop in August 2021 and, earlier this year, its Stony Stratford store.

By day, the social enterprise sells fresh brews, cakes, sandwiches and brunch. By night, it sell wine, craft beer, cocktails, cheese and charcuterie boards.

Find out more about Saints Coffee by visiting https://www.saintscoffee.co.uk/.

Other finalists in the Community Cafe of the Year category included Cafe 1850 (Northampton) which won Silver, Aspen Cafe (Bosworth Garden Centre), Cafe Track (Northampton), Johnny’s Happy Place (Kettering) and The Place To Bee (Northampton), who all won Bronze.

The WNFAD awards, now in its fourteenth year, received hundreds of nominations and applications across 15 categories from a diverse range of ambitious and driven individuals and businesses across Northamptonshire’s food and drink sector.

The awards aim to celebrate all that is great about local produce and drink, recognising excellence within the county’s dining venues and rewarding those who work so hard within the culinary sector.

To find out more, visit https://www.northamptonshirefoodanddrink.co.uk/.