El Paraíso – Colombia

Andy and Jessie Wilkin founded what was originally called Te Aro Coffee Roasters in 2009, named after the Wellington, New Zealand neighborhood where Andy grew up, before rebranding to Pilot Coffee Roasters in 2013. That same year the roastery moved operations to a headquarters at 50 Wagstaff Drive in Toronto, and by 2014 they had earned Micro Roaster of the Year from Roast Magazine. Today Pilot operates over ten specialty locations across Toronto and Waterloo, runs a full service roastery and cold brewery, and supplies wholesale accounts coast to coast. In 2023 alone they released 21 coffees from seven countries and visited 20 farms in five, adding two new Direct Trade partners to the roster. The Pilot Cold Brew production department became a category leader in its own right. Their mission, "realizing coffee's full potential," is backed by a commitment to sourcing ethical Direct Trade coffee and building transparency from farm to cup, with partnerships like the one with Fazenda Recreio in Brazil's Sao Sebastiao da Grama region.