Bija - Best New Coffee Shop 2025

LCF Awards Spotlight Q&A

1. Congratulations on your win! Can you tell us a little about your business and what makes it special?

Bija is an independent specialty coffee shop in St James’s Market, Piccadilly, London. We created Bija with a very clear purpose: to introduce more people in London, and across the UK, to the extraordinary diversity and quality of Indonesian coffee.

Indonesia is the fourth-largest coffee-producing country in the world, yet there are still so many regions, varieties and flavour profiles that remain relatively undiscovered by UK coffee drinkers. At Bija, we focus exclusively on Indonesian specialty coffee and place great importance on traceability, freshness, quality and the stories behind the beans.

What makes Bija special is that we are not simply serving coffee; we are trying to create a deeper connection between the cup and its origin. We want our customers to discover that Indonesian coffee goes far beyond what they may already know, with different regions offering incredibly distinctive characteristics and flavour profiles.

For us, Bija is more than a coffee shop. It is a platform to celebrate Indonesian coffee, its producers, its culture and its diversity in the heart of London. Our long-term ambition is for Bija to become one of the main reference points in the UK for anyone looking to discover high-quality Indonesian specialty coffee.

 

2. What award did you win at The London Coffee Festival Awards 2025, and what does that recognition mean to you and your team?

We were incredibly proud to win "Best New Coffee Shop of the Year 2025".

The recognition meant a great deal to all of us because Bija was still a very young business at the time. For us, the award felt like an acknowledgement that our idea, our identity and the hard work of our team were beginning to find a place within London’s coffee community.

It gave the whole team a huge boost and encouraged us to work even harder. At the same time, winning the award also raised the bar for us. Recognition comes with responsibility. It challenges us to keep improving the quality of our coffee, our service and the experience we give to every person who walks through our door.

Most importantly, it gave us confidence that there is genuine curiosity and appreciation for what we are trying to do with Indonesian coffee in London.

 

3. What inspired you to enter The London Coffee Festival Awards?

At first, we were actually unsure whether we should enter. We had only been open for a few months and were still very new to London’s coffee scene.

But when I looked at the award categories, I thought: why not try? Even being part of the process felt like an opportunity to introduce Bija and Indonesian specialty coffee to a wider audience within the London coffee community.

When The London Coffee Festival told us that we had become a finalist, we were already extremely happy. We genuinely thought, even if we don’t win, being recognised as a finalist as such a new coffee shop is already something to be proud of.

So when we eventually won, it was completely unexpected and very emotional. It reminded us that sometimes you have to put yourself forward, even when you feel you are still at the beginning of your journey.

 

4. What do you think helped you stand out and secure the win?

I think several things helped Bija stand out.

Firstly, we have a clear identity. We focus exclusively on Indonesian coffee, which gives us the opportunity to tell a very specific story and introduce customers to something they may not have experienced before.

Secondly, our mission is simple and genuine: we want people to discover Indonesian beans, flavours and coffee traditions in an approachable way. Whether it is through a single-origin coffee, an espresso-based drink or something inspired by Indonesian coffee culture, we want customers to leave having discovered something new.

But perhaps the most important reason is our community.

From day one, we have been incredibly fortunate to receive so much support from people working and living around St James’s Market and Piccadilly. Many of them have become regulars who come to us every morning, know the team by name and have become part of Bija’s story.

When we won the award, some of our regular customers, office people came in with cards, a bottle of wine and chocolates to celebrate with us. That meant so much because it showed us that the award did not only belong to Bija — our community felt part of it too.

We have also received tremendous support from the Indonesian diaspora and the wider Asian community in the UK. For many of them, drinks such as Kopi Susu (Latte with condensed milk), Kopi Tubruk (unfiltered black coffee) and our Arenga Latte (Latte with arenga palm sugar) create a sense of familiarity and connection, while for other customers they are something completely new to discover.

 

5. Tell us about the journey behind your business. What has been your proudest achievement so far?

One of our proudest achievements is seeing the Bija community grow beyond St James’s Market and Piccadilly.

More people are becoming curious about Indonesian coffee, and many of our regular customers who may never previously have explored Indonesian beans have now become genuine fans. Our Kopi Susu and Arenga Latte, for example, have become favourites for many customers and often become the starting point for a wider conversation about Indonesian coffee.

What makes us particularly proud is seeing customers become curious about the beans themselves — asking where they come from, how they are processed and how coffees from different Indonesian regions can taste completely different.

Our journey has also taken us outside the coffee shop. We have collaborated with organisations including BOS UK, supporting the protection of endangered orangutans in Kalimantan, and conservation groups working to protect the Javan rhino. These collaborations are especially meaningful to us because coffee, biodiversity, local communities and environmental conservation are deeply interconnected in Indonesia.

We have also worked with cycling groups, running communities, charity groups, Asian and international student communities and many others. Bija has taken part in events and pop-ups including recently the CelebrASIA at Battersea Power Station and the National Geographic Traveller Food Festival, giving us the opportunity to showcase Indonesian coffee to completely new audiences.

Our proudest achievement is therefore not just one moment. It is seeing a small independent coffee shop become a platform through which more people are discovering Indonesian coffee, culture and stories.

 

6. What impact has winning had on your business, team or community since the awards were announced?

The impact has been very positive, both internally and externally.

For our team, the award was an important acknowledgement of their hard work. Running a new independent coffee shop requires a great deal of energy, consistency and care, so having that effort recognised gave everyone a real sense of pride.

For the business, the award created greater awareness and curiosity. We have had people discover Bija because they heard about the award and then come to the shop specifically to try our coffee.

It has also created more conversations around Indonesian specialty coffee, which is ultimately what we hoped Bija would achieve from the beginning.

Perhaps most importantly, the award has motivated us not to become complacent. Winning was not the finish line; it gave us even more reason to keep learning, improving and giving our customers a better experience.

 

7. How important is it to receive recognition from the coffee community?

It is extremely important to us because community is really the backbone of Bija.

We are located right in central London, in the middle of the hustle and bustle of Piccadilly, where it can sometimes be difficult to find places that still feel genuinely personal and community-driven.

 

We are incredibly grateful that Bija has gradually developed that feeling. Our community includes office workers who visit us every morning and afternoon, people working in hospitality nearby, runners, cycling groups, international students, tourists, families, theatre goers, and the Indonesian diaspora and customers from many different backgrounds.

We have also been honoured to be recognised within London’s cycling community as a coffee stop for riders. These kinds of connections are very special to us because they show that Bija is becoming more than somewhere people simply buy a coffee.

Coffee shops have always been places where people meet, pause, talk and connect, and that sense of belonging is something we want to protect as Bija grows.

Recognition from the wider coffee community makes us feel that our small corner of London has become part of something much bigger.

 

8. If someone was visiting your coffee shop for the first time, what is the one thing they absolutely shouldn’t miss?

They should definitely try something that represents Bija’s Indonesian identity.

Our Arenga Latte, inspired by Indonesian kopi susu and made using Indonesian arenga palm sugar, is one of the drinks that best introduces people to what we do. It is familiar enough to be approachable, but it also gives customers a taste of something distinctly Indonesian.

I would also encourage first-time visitors to ask our team about the Indonesian beans we currently have available, because the coffee selection changes and we love helping customers discover different origins and flavour profiles.

And finally, if they have time, I would say: sit down, enjoy the coffee and experience the atmosphere. We want Bija to feel warm, relaxed and welcoming — a small Indonesian coffee corner in the middle of London.

 

9. What’s next? Are there any exciting plans, projects or ambitions on the horizon?

There is still so much we want to explore.

Our biggest priority is to continue improving the quality and diversity of the Indonesian beans we offer. Indonesia has an extraordinary coffee landscape, with coffees grown across many islands, regions, altitudes and microclimates. We want to showcase more of that diversity rather than focusing only on the regions that UK consumers may already recognise, such as Sumatra or Java.

We plan to introduce more limited and special lots, pour-over offerings and coffees from lesser-known Indonesian origins, giving customers the opportunity to experience how diverse Indonesian coffee can really be.

We are also looking at expanding our retail offering, including online sales, so that people outside London can discover Bija and Indonesian specialty coffee at home.

 

Education is another important part of our future. We would love to create more opportunities for customers to learn about origins, processing methods, producers and brewing through tastings, events and collaborations.

Ultimately, our ambition remains very simple: when people in London or the UK think about premium Indonesian specialty coffee, we hope Bija becomes one of the first names that comes to mind.

 

10. What advice would you give to businesses thinking about entering The London Coffee Festival Awards in the future?

Our advice would be to focus on quality, care and consistency, but also to be very clear about who you are and what you stand for.

You do not necessarily have to be the biggest business or the most established. Bija was still very new when we entered. What matters is having a genuine identity, understanding your customers and being passionate about what you are trying to create.

Listen to your community, look after your team and remain consistent in the small details every day.

And most importantly, believe in what you do and do not be afraid to put yourself forward. We almost did not enter because we thought we were too new. If we had listened to that hesitation, we would never have had this experience.

Sometimes simply taking that first step can open doors you never expected.

 

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