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Toronto · Canada

Pilot Coffee Roasters

Since 2009 · Andy Wilkin, Jessie Wilkin

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Overview

Pilot was founded in May 2009 in Leslieville, Toronto by Andy Wilkin — a freshly-minted Q Grader from the Te Aro neighbourhood of Wellington, New Zealand — and Jessie Holmes, who later married and runs the company alongside him as Andy and Jessie Wilkin. The company opened as Te Aro Coffee Roasters in a converted Leslieville car garage with a 24kg Diedrich roaster and rebranded to Pilot in 2013 when production moved to its current 50 Wagstaff Drive headquarters.

Known for

  • Roast Magazine 2014 Micro Roaster of the Year
  • Pilot Cold Brew, a category-leading cold-brew production line
  • Original Te Aro cafe in Leslieville (now operating as a separate sister cafe at te-aro.ca) inspired the brand
  • Direct-trade partnership with Fazenda Recreio in Brazil
  • 10+ cafes across Toronto, Oakville and Waterloo plus wholesale and grocery distribution coast-to-coast in Canada
  • Cafes designed by Toronto architecture studio Williamson Williamson

Why it matters

Pilot was one of the foundational Toronto third-wave roasters and is widely cited by other Canadian roasters as a quality reference point. Andy Wilkin's status as one of Canada's earliest Q Graders, combined with the 2014 Roast Magazine award and a sustained investment in cafe design and cold-brew infrastructure, helped move Toronto specialty coffee from cult curiosity to mainstream presence.

Production

destoning
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head roaster
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color sorting
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roaster machine
24kg Diedrich (original Te Aro setup; current Wagstaff facility runs production-scale equipment)
filter equipment
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cupping frequency
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roastery location
50 Wagstaff Drive, Toronto
espresso equipment
Modbar AV (in select cafes)
annual volume tonnes
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Café

50 Wagstaff Drive, Toronto (roastery cafe); plus locations across Toronto, Oakville and Waterloo

Recognitions

  • Roast Magazine Micro Roaster of the Year (2014)

Sources

More roasters