BIGGBY® COFFEE CONGRATULATES 2018 BARISTA OF THE YEAR

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BIGGBY^® COFFEE Barista Jenna Bizek Celebrates her Barista of the Year Award

East Lansing, MI, September 13, 2018–BIGGBY^® COFFEE would like to congratulate Jenna Bizek of the Westland, MI location (36640 Ford Rd) on winning the prestigious Barista of the Year award! This honor is announced each year at the BIGGBY^® COFFEE Annual Franchise Meeting (AFM) in August and all voting is done by customers! Nominations begin in May and the results are tallied by July. Regional winners are also recognized at AFM and receive an award to showcase their incredible customer service, personal connections made, and of course, amazing barista skills!

Jenna is thrilled to have won and when we asked her to go back to that moment and describe it, she had some wonderful words to share. “I am pretty sure I slept about three hours the night I won because I could not come down from cloud 9. I still get chills while watching the videos of the awards night,” said Jenna. “When I first found out I won for the Southeast Michigan market, tears just came streaming down my face. There were no words to describe that feeling except that it was pure joy.”

Jenna has grown a lot as an individual during her time with BIGGBY^® and she enjoys sharing this story with her friends and family…and now with the world. “Within the last year, I think I have become more comfortable with loving myself and living life for me and not for everyone else,” she said. “I think I owe a lot of the person I am today to my owner and store manager, Mo and April, my customers, and BIGGBY^® as a whole. They have helped me overcome my struggles by showing me that I am so much more than I think I am!”

Jenna recognizes that the work she does can make a BIGG difference in someone’s day and she takes that responsibility very seriously. “I love meeting someone new and knowing that through a cup of coffee and a smile I could make their day better just like they did mine! I love the fact that I get the opportunity to make new friends. I love knowing that I can make someone happy, which is another reason that I became happy with myself.”

Stop by the Westland location to share a Caramel Apple Cider and a smile with Jenna and her team. Whether you’re new to BIGGBY^® or stopping by for your regular pick-me-up, she’ll make sure it’s perfectly crafted just the way you like it. After all, she was voted Barista of the Year!

BIGGBY^® COFFEE, East Lansing, Mich.-based, was started with a single store on March 15, 1995. One year later, and on the cusp of opening a second location, Bob Fish and Michael McFall, on a handshake and $4,000, decided to franchise the concept. BIGGBY^® COFFEE’s cultural values of Make Friends, Have Fun, B Yourself, and Share Great Coffee help coffee-lovers and the coffee-curious alike benefit from a less pretentious and fun approach to the standard gourmet cafe paradigm. Besides connoisseur-worthy drinks with pronounceable names like Teddy Bear^® and Caramel Marvel^®, BIGGBY^® baristas provide a unique experience focused on brightening their customer’s day and supporting them in building a life they love. The “Big ‘B’” on the orange background caught on, and today BIGGBY^® COFFEE has 275 cafes open or under contract across 10 states including: Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, South Carolina, Wisconsin, Kentucky, Florida, Texas, and New Jersey. In 2018, BIGGBY^® launched an Area Representative Program and currently has 4 area representatives in 4 states.

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If you would like more information about this topic, please contact Caitlin Carpenter at 517-898-3677 or email at ccarpenter@biggby.com.