BUCHAREST, Romania – On November 28th, at this year’s European Coffee Awards gala in Barcelona, Radu Savopol, co-founder of the Romanian brand 5 to go, was named winner in the Outstanding Contribution to the European Coffee Industry category, a confirmation of the significant impact of his innovative entrepreneurial strategy not only locally, but also internationally. At the same event, the 5 to go brand was nominated for Best Coffee Chain in Central/Eastern Europe.
Radu Savopol is the winner in the Outstanding Contribution to the European Coffee Industry category
Organized by Allegra Insights, a leading UK research agency, the European Coffee Awards are the most prestigious awards in the European coffee and hospitality sector, promoting and celebrating the excellence of companies with spectacular performances and results.
Now in its 14th year, the Awards bring together the industry’s top leaders each year and the winners are chosen after rigorous analysis by a team of expert analysts and researchers. In a difficult and challenging year, this recognition of entrepreneurial expertise and leadership performance is all the more valuable.
Radu Savopol: “This was not the first nomination or recognition we received in the European Coffee Awards and we enjoyed each one equally, and this result is a first we had not hoped for and a confirmation we experienced with overwhelming excitement. It means a lot to us that the 5 to go brand has become a landmark and that we are present and awarded at such large-scale events, in order to make the Romanian coffee industry known internationally”.
Savopol adds: “Certainly, this award will be a catalyst for the performance of our business, because such a result must be reflected in all the characteristics of the 5 to go brand, from the quality of the products to the ability to transform and adapt to customer expectations and market evolution”.
With over 20 years of experience in the horeca field and an entrepreneurial start as a pub owner, Radu Savopol had, in 2015, together with Lucian Bădilă, the vision to develop the 5 to go business, which is today the most accessed franchise in Romania, already present in 105 cities in the country.
This achievment comes after winning several trophies last week at the Horeca Awards, a gala organized in Romania by Horeca Insight Magazine: the 1st prize and the public award for the best coffee shop/cafeteria, the 1st prize for the Man of the Year in horeca, Radu Savopol, and the 3rd prize for the best barista, Laurențiu Sava, 5 to go trainer, two other 5 to go trainers being also nominated in the top 5 barista in Romania.
Thus, 2023 ends with spectacular achievements for 5 to go, which reached this year the milestone of 500 coffee shops opened in Romania and recorded the highest growth so far in terms of sales and turnover, while moving up to the 9th place in the European ranking of coffee shop chains in Europe.
About 5 to go
5 to go was launched in 2015, and at the end of 2021 reached the threshold of 500 units, being the largest chain of coffee chains in Eastern Europe and the most accessed franchise in Romania. Radu Savopol and Lucian Bădilă are the founders of 5 to go, the ones who brought to the horeca market in Romania the innovative concept of a single price for all the products sold.
Under the slogan “Smile, there’s coffee!”, the coffee chain offers consumers a warm and friendly space where coffee is the main actor. The coffee used is one with an intense, full-bodied, creamy aroma, which is a unique blend, created especially for the 5 to go chain of cafes. Because the number 5 represents the structural element of the brand, the 5 to go team offers customers five main reasons to return to one of the coffee shops in the group: taste, professionalism, speed, diversity, and lifestyle.
